^  -JAN  20  1896  ^ 


v:' 


BV  4211  .C37x 
Carpenter,  William  Boyd, 

1841-1918. 
Lectures  on  preaching 

li  f>  1  1  vp  r  e  H  in  f  h  p  d  i  v 


1  n  1  t  V 


LECTURES  ON   PREACHING 


Lectures   on    Preaching 

DELIVERED  IN  THE  DIVINITY  SCHOOL, 

CAMBRIDGE, 

IN  APRIL  AND  MAY,  1894 


BY 

/ 

W.  BOYD  XARPENTER,  D.D.,  D.C.L. 

BISHOP  OF  RIPON  ;    HON.  FELLOW  OF  ST.  CATHARINE'S 
COLLEGE,  CAMBRIDGE 


London  :   Macmillan  &  Co. 

And  New  York 

1895 

^/l  rig/us  reser'ued 


The  lectures  which  follow  are  published  in 
deference  to  the  wish  of  those  who  heard 
them.  The  lectures  were  spoken.  What 
is  offered  in  this  volume  is  little  other  than 
the  shorthand  writer's  report.  As  such  I 
hope  they  will  be  read.  A  protracted  ill- 
ness has  delayed  their  publication.  I  desire 
to  express  my  thanks  to  my  friends  Arch- 
deacon Waugh  and  Professor  Ryle,  who, 
when  I  was  forbidden  all  work,  undertook 
the  ungrateful  task  of  reading  the  proof- 
sheets. 

W.  B.  RIPON. 

February  1 895. 


CONTENTS 


1.  The  Preacher  Himself 

2.  The  Training  of  the  Preacher 

3.  The  Sermon 

4.  The  Structure  of  the  Sermon 

5.  The  Preacher  and  his  Age 

6.  The  Aim  of  the  Preacher  . 


I 

33 

75 

118 

160 

209 


LECTURE    I 

I  HAVE  to  Speak  to  you  on  the  subject  of 
preaching.  It  is  a  subject  of  commanding 
interest,  especially  to  you  who  are  looking 
forward  to  the  work  of  ministry  in  the 
Church  of  Christ. 

There  was  a  phrase  employed  by  an 
English  statesman  which  became  famous  in 
its  time.  He  spoke  of  the  need  which  the 
state  had  of  men  of  "  light  and  leading." 
The  phrase  aptly  describes  the  twofold 
aspect  of  the  preacher's  work,  I  need  hardly 
remind  you  of  the  difference  between  the 
men  of  light  and  the  men  of  leading. 
The  man  of  light  gives  us  knowledge  and 

B 

r  ' 


2  Lectures  on  Preaching         lect. 

truth,  and  their  value  is  quite  independent 
of  the  man  who  gives  it  :  but  the  man  of 
leading  leads  because  of  certain  qualities 
in  himself  which  come  into  activity  when 
in  contact  with  men. 

The  function  of  the  man  of  light  is 
to  unfold  some  truth.  He  is  the  man 
who  enlarges  our  sphere  of  knowledge, 
and  sheds  new  light  upon  the  dark  places 
of  the  world  or  of  ourselves.  He  is 
Columbus,  increasing  our  knowledge  of 
the  geography  of  the  globe.  He  is 
Newton,  giving  us  clearer  light  respecting 
the  order  of  the  universe.  He  is  Harvey, 
disclosing  to  us  something  fresh  concern- 
ing the  constitution  of  our  bodies  and 
making  us  understand  ourselves  the 
better.  In  like  manner  the  preacher  must 
have  a  message  which  brings  light  to  the 
minds  of  men.  He  need  not,  like  the  poet, 
aspire   "to   justify    the   ways    of  God   to 


I  Lectures  on  Preaching  3 

men,"  but  he  must  be  an  interpreter  of 
the  eternal  moral  order,  of  the  significance 
of  life,  of  the  subtle  processes  of  the  heart 
of  man.     He  must,  in  a  sense,  when  once 

within 

"  the  pulpit-place, 

Interpret  God  for  all." 

Or,  to  translate  the  same  thought  into 
sacred  and  familiar  language,  he  must 
have  an  eternal  word  of  God  to  deliver  to 
men,  a  message  which  is  more  than  man's 
word. 

The  preacher  must  thus  be  a  man  of 
light.  But  he  must  needs  be  a  man  of 
leading  also.  His  work  brings  him  into 
contact  with  the  people.  If  he  has  light 
to  shed  upon  them,  it  must  be  transmitted 
to  them  through  the  medium  of  his 
personality.  It  is  here  that  the  human 
touch  is  felt.  It  is  here  that  the  function 
of    leadership    comes    into     play.       The 


4  Lectures  on  Preaching         lect. 

preacher  is  not  one  who  influences  men 
through  the  medium  of  the  newspaper 
article  or  the  written  treatise.  He  is  the 
public  speaker  whose  personality  is,  in  a 
fashion,  the  chief  thing  about  him.  He 
is  not  like  the  discoverer  or  inventor 
whose  moral  and  personal  qualities  are 
of  no  moment,  because  his  work  is  purely 
intellectual  and  impersonal  ;  he  is  a  man 
whose  personality  must  afi^ect  everything 
that  he  says  and  does.  In  all  works,  save 
those  of  pure  science,  the  personal  element 
plays  its  part,  and  especially  in  all 
creative  workmanship.  We  feel  the 
personal  differences  of  Wordsworth  and 
Byron  in  their  poetry.  We  know  that 
the  one  places  a  cooling  palm  upon  our 
forehead,  while  the  touch  of  the  other  is 
always  feverish.  We  can  hd  the  serene 
detachment  from  life's  affairs  which  the 
canvas    of   Raphael    discloses  ;    the  world 


I  Lectures  on  Preaching  5 

is  nothing  to  the  painter,  kings  may- 
make  war  and  nations  may  perish,  but 
the  colours  on  his  brush  will  take  no  sad 
or  ruddy  hue  in  consequence.  On  the 
other  hand,  we  can  feel  the  passionate  and 
superb  human  interest  in  the  work  of 
Michael  Angelo  ;  his  hand  trembles  with 
emotion  ;  sorrowful  sympathy  with  human 
affairs  gives  vehemence  and  vividness  to 
his  touch.  The  personal  qualities  of  the 
painters  reveal  themselves  on  their  canvas. 
It  is  the  same  with  the  great  composers  of 
music.  Who  has  listened  to  Berlioz's  Faust 
or  Wagner's  Lohengrin  without  becoming 
conscious  of  the  difference  between  the  two 
men  ?  Berlioz  has  seen  Faust  and  Mephis- 
topheles  in  the  streets  of  Paris,  and  has 
heard  the  bustle  and  hustle  of  the  weird 
procession  overhead.  Wagner  has  lived 
apart  from  his  age  and  in  the  companion- 
ship   of    sights    and    sounds    which    have 


6  Lectures  on  Preaching         lect. 

little  in  common  with  the  glare  and 
the  glitter  of  modern  cities.  Men  express 
themselves  as  well  as  their  theme  in  their 
works.  The  force  of  personality  not  only 
works  beneath  the  form,  but  makes  itself 
seen  and  felt  throughout.  The  personal 
element  must  be  an  important  factor  in  all 
creative  work.  The  real  self  of  the  man 
cannot  but  make  itself  felt  in  his  work. 
Self-suppression  is  next  to  impossible,  and 
never  more  so  than  in  the  sermon.  But 
further,  it  is  undesirable.  However  greatly 
a  man  may  wish  to  let  the  naked  truth  do 
its  work,  he  cannot  forgo  the  aid  of  emotion 
and  personal  conviction.  To  speak  or  to 
preach  as  though  the  message  we  have  to 
deliver  were  a  matter  of  indifference  to 
ourselves  is  to  invite  its  rejection.  How 
can  we  persuade  others,  if  we  are  not 
persuaded  ourselves  ^ 

It  is  this  deep  and  real  influence  of  per- 


I  Lectures  on  Preaching  7 

sonality  which  makes  such  marked  differ- 
ence between  preachers.  You  know  how 
the  same  message  dehvered  by  different 
men  may  become  almost  a  different  message. 
One  messenger  dehvers  it  in  such  a  sort 
that  we  feel  a  pleasure  in  receiving  it  ;  the 
message  carries  with  it  a  genial  tone  which 
is  most  welcome.  Another  delivers  it  in  a 
fashion  which  provokes  our  resentment, — 
we  will  have  none  of  it.  In  the  same  way 
preachers  may  be  quite  agreed  as  to  the 
message  of  God  to  men,  but  one  delivers 
it  in  a  perfunctory  and  indifferent  style 
as  though  he  had  no  interest  in  it ; 
another  in  a  hard  and  peremptory  fashion 
as  though  he  liked  the  official  right  of 
giving  the  message,  but  had  no  personal 
affection  for  the  message  itself ;  while  a 
third  speaks  his  message  persuasively  as 
though  his  heart  were  in  it,  and  as  one  who 
is  alive  to  the  meaning  and  the  object  of  the 


8  Lectures  on  Preaching         lect. 

message  itself.  It  is  with  these  things 
as  with  a  landscape  seen  under  different 
aspects.  When  the  rain  is  falling  or  the 
fog  is  enveloping  the  hills  and  meadows, 
we  find  it  difficult  to  realise  the  beauty  of 
the  scene  which,  seen  in  clear  sunlight,  is 
a  pure  beauty  and  a  joyous  memory  for  ever. 
Some  preachers  preach  a  damp  gospel  ; 
others  enfold  it  in  fog ;  the  true-hearted 
man  sheds  over  it  the  sunlight  of  his  own 
conviction,  or,  better  still,  of  the  divine 
love  which  he  has  realised  as  the  basis  of 
all  divine  utterances. 

As  a  matter  of  history,  the  charm 
of  the  great  preachers  of  the  past  has 
lain  in  something  which  their  published 
sermons  could  never  have  produced. 
Those  who  heard  Newman  preach  tell 
us  that  it  was  not  exactly  the  thing  said 
which  impressed  them,  but  the  sense  of  the 
preacher's  personality  as  it  passed  across  the 


I  Lectures  on  Preaching  9 

manuscript  to  the  hearer's  heart.  Another 
illustration  of  the  same  principle  is  given 
us  in  Dr.  Chalmers's  life.  He  was  fond  of 
preaching  his  old  sermons.  He  did  so 
openly,  giving  notice  of  his  intention  ;  but 
the  crowds  still  came  to  hear  from  his  lips 
even  sermons  which  were  in  print.  The 
personal  force  of  the  man  gave  something 
which  the  printed  words  could  not  give. 
The  words  became  luminous  as  they  sprang 
from  his  lips.  This  fact  explains  that 
disappointment  which  comes  to  us  when 
we  read  the  sermons  of  some  well-known 
preacher.  Dean  Kirwan's  sermons,  for 
example,  and  even  George  Whitfield's, 
sadly  disappoint  us.  In  reading  them 
we  can  hardly  understand  the  tears  and 
the  lavish  offerings  which  were  drawn  from 
the  people  who  heard  these  famous  men. 
But  here,  it  is  evident,  it  is  not  enough 
to  read.     We  must   have  heard  the  man 


lo  Lectures  on  breaching         lect, 

to  understand  him  and  his  power.  The 
secret  lay  in  the  magnetic  influence  of 
personality.  This  it  was  which  won  for 
Kirwan  his  wondrous  ascendency  over 
the  charity  of  the  people  of  Dublin. 
He  gave  out  his  own  self  in  the  sermon. 
As  it  was  said  of  him,  "  in  feeding  the 
lamp  of  charity,  he  exhausted  the  lamp  of 
life."  This  it  was  which  gave  Whitfield 
his  power  over  the  rough  Somersetshire 
colliers  :  he  was  real,  he  was  in  earnest, 
his  soul  v/as  in  his  words.  The  tears, 
which  made  channels  down  grimy  cheeks, 
were  due  to  that  wondrous,  indefinable, 
personal  power  which  knits  soul  to  soul 
in  living  sympathy.  I  think  that  it  is  in 
the  light  of  this  principle  that  we  can  best 
understand  Demosthenes'  saying  that  the 
first,  second,  and  third  requisite  for  the 
orator  was  action.  This  of  course  does 
not    mean    mere  gesture,   as    Julius   Hare 


I  Lectures  on  Preaching  1 1 

pointed  out  long  ago.  By  action 
Demosthenes  alludes,  I  think,  to  the 
orator's  capacity  for  self- identification 
with  his  message.  The  speaker  is  for 
the  moment  the  living  voice  of  the 
truth  with  which  he  is  imbued.  Just 
as  the  true  actor  is  the  man  who 
lives  his  part,  completely  identifying 
himself  with  the  character  he  assumes, 
so  the  forcible  speaker  is  the  man 
whose  whole  personality  is  enlisted  in 
his  subject.  This  is  the  true  v7r6KpL(Tt<i, 
which  is  not  the  assumption  of  a  part, 
but  the  identification  of  self  with  it.  The 
man  makes  it  his  own,  as  we  say.  His 
own  personality  is  one  with  his  subject. 
The  words  are  there,  but  the  man  is  there 
too.  We  hear  him  ;  and  his  very  heart-beats 
sound  in  his  voice.  Hypocrisy  assumes 
the  appearance  of  things  which  it  does 
not  feel  ;    this  is  the  bad  sense  :    Demos- 


12  Lectures  on  Preaching        lect. 

thenes  used  the  word  in  the  good  sense. 
He  meant  that  power  of  really  feeling, 
living,  and  acting  in  the  thoughts  and 
words  spoken,  which  I  call  the  power  of 
self-identification  with  one's  work.  This 
is  to  be  found  in  all  genius.  The  artist 
identifies  himself  with  Nature,  and  so 
becomes  fit  to  interpret  her.  The  poet 
does  the  same.  The  skilful  and  successful 
lawyer  identifies  himself  with  his  client. 
The  capacity  to  do  this  is  a  kind  of 
instinct,  which  is  almost  genius.  But 
the  lower  order  of  minds,  whether 
of  artist  or  of  poet,  do  not  possess 
it  ;  they  do  their  work  with  conscien- 
tious endeavour,  and  are  honest  imitators 
of  what  they  see.  The  man  of  true 
genius  seizes  the  object,  sees  with  its 
eyes,  feels  with  its  emotions  ;  he  is 
sincerely  transported  into  the  realm  which 
he  describes  ;  there  is  no  sense  of  unreality 


1  Lectures  on  Preaching  13 

in  his  endeavours  to  delineate.  He  does 
not  copy  what  he  sees  :  he  describes  what 
he  knows. 

From  a  sacred  point  of  view,  something 
of  this  sort  is  needful  for  the  preacher. 
It  is  not  a  question  of  genius  here  :  it 
is  a  matter  of  sincerity.  The  things  of 
which  he  speaks  must  not  be  ideas 
merely  ;  they  must  be  convictions. 

"  If  from  the  soul  the  language  does  not  come 
By  its  own  impulse,  to  impel  the  hearts 
Of  hearers  with  communicated  power, 
In  vain  you  strive,  in  vain  you  study  earnestly." 

Unless  we  speak  what  we  know  and  testify 
what  we  have  seen,  we  shall  seek  in  vain 
to  move  the  hearts  of  men. 

In  the  Guesses  at  Truth  the  brothers 
Hare  said  that  oratory  might  be 
"  symbolised  by  a  warrior's  eye  flashing 
from  under  a  philosopher's  brow.  —  But 
why  a  warrior's  eye  rather  than  a  poet's  ? 


14  Lectures  on  Preaching         lect. 

Because  in  oratory  the  will  must  pre- 
dominate." This  is  only  saying  the  same 
thing  in  another  form.  The  whole  person- 
ality of  which  the  will  is  the  final  exponent 
must  be  enlisted  in  the  sermon.  The 
preacher  has  a  message.  He  must  ex- 
plain ;  he  must  instruct ;  but  he  must 
do  more  than  this.  He  is  not  a  teacher 
merely.  He  is  sent  to  persuade  man,  and 
the  whole  weight  of  his  personal  character 
and  will  must  be  thrown  into  his  utterances. 
If  he  teach,  he  may  be  a  man  of  light  ; 
but  it  is  only  as  he  persuades  men  that 
he  fulfils  the  other  requirement  of  his 
calling  and  becomes  a  man  of  leading. 

In  so  far  as  we  have  a  truth  to  tell,  we 
have  light  for  men.  In  so  far  as  we  are 
persuaded  of  the  truth,  we  can  be  leaders 
of  men.  Truth  is  of  importance,  but  the 
personality  of  him  who  speaks  it  is  of 
scarcely   less   importance.       It   would    be 


I  Lectures  on  Preaching  1 5 

untrue  to  say  that  the  personality  of  the 
speaker  is  of  more  importance  than  the 
truth  which  he  speaks  ;  but  it  is  certainly 
true  that  the  personality  is  of  great  im- 
portance to  the  transmission  and  reception 
of  the  truth.  It  makes  a  difference  whether 
the  light  which  is  enclosed  in  an  earthly 
vessel  shines  through  a  clear  or  a  dull 
medium.  Certainly  the  Apostle  was 
earnest  in  his  counsel — "  Take  heed  unto 
thyself  ?indL  to  the  teaching." 

If  then  our  personality  counts  for  so 
much  in  our  work,  it  becomes  our  duty  to 
regard  this  as  a  sacred  gift  and  to  do  our 
best  to  make  it  an  efficient  force.  There 
are  two  conditions  requisite  for  this.  The 
first  is,  "  Be  yourself."  There  is  a  self- 
confidence  which  is  evil,  but  there  is  a 
self-confidence  which  is  good.  It  is  good 
when  it  is  the  expression  of  a  desire  just 
to    be    ourselves,    and    to    be    none    other 


1 6  Lectures  on  Preaching        lect. 

than  ourselves.  This  is  not  evil,  for  it  is 
compliance  with  a  simple  and  divine  order. 
Everything  expresses  itself  according  to  its 
own  order.  It  is  the  tendency  of  every 
organism  to  build  itself  up  according  to  its 
type.  The  ambition  or  effort  to  be  other 
than  self  ends  in  disaster  and  confusion. 
The  primrose  should  be  content  to  be 
a  primrose,  and  not  try  to  rival  the 
rose.  The  willow  with  its  supple  branches 
has  its  place  in  nature  as  well  as  the  firm 
unyielding  oak.  It  is  a  safe  rule  never 
to  violate  nature.  Be  yourself ;  and  never 
let  admiration  for  another's  gifts  betray  you 
into  the  folly  of  copying  that  which  is 
another's.  The  men  who  have  succeeded 
have  invariably  recognised  this  principle. 
"  I  shall  not  preach  like  them,"  said  Mas- 
sillon  after  hearing  the  great  preachers  of 
his  day.  He  had  his  own  natural  bent. 
David    will    not  wear    Saul's    armour.     It 


I  Lectures  on  Preaching  17 

is  usually  only  an  ass  that  ventures  to 
put  on  the  lion's  skin  ;  but  it  is  perhaps 
more  pitiable  when  the  lion  stoops  to 
wear  the  skin  of  an  ass.  And  there  is 
risk  of  this  when  the  weak  spirit  of  imi- 
tation is  given  free  rein.  No  ;  your  own 
individuality  is  a  sacred  thing,  and  you 
can  never  rise  so  high  as  you  can  by 
being,  in  this  sense,  true  to  nature. 

"  Mon  verre  n'est  pas  grand,  mais  je  bois  dans  mon 
verre," 

sang  Alfred  de  Musset.  The  goblet  you 
carry  to  the  world  may  not  be  fit  to  bear 
the  copious  supply  for  the  thirst  of  many, 
but  you  may  carry  some  invigorating 
refreshment  to  a  few.  At  any  rate,  you 
will  avoid  that  miserable  feeling  of  un- 
reality which  is  the  heritage  of  those  who 
do  but  imitate. 

There  is  a  snare  against  which  you  will  do 
well  to  be  on  your  guard,  namely  impatience, 
c 


1 8  Lectures  on  Preaching         lect. 

Impatience  leads  men  to  imitation.  They 
see  a  successful  man.  It  is,  or  it  seems  to 
be,  an  easier  and  quicker  path  to  copy  his 
methods  than  to  discover  their  own.  It 
is  perhaps  a  more  rapid  way  at  first,  but 
it  is  not  the  best  way  in  the  end.  It  is 
like  the  proverbial  short  cut  which  takes 
you  far  from  your  destination.  It  is  like  a 
series  in  arithmetical  progression  ;  while  the 
earnest  determination  to  be  oneself  and  to 
improve  oneself  is  like  a  series  in  geometrical 
progression.  At  first  the  arithmetical  series 
may  appear  better,  but  in  the  end  the 
series  which  multiplies  in  upon  itself  yields 
the  best  results.  The  longest  way  round 
may  be  the  shortest  way  home.  Be  sure 
of  this,  —  impatience  will  tempt  you  to 
imitate,  faith  will  teach  you  to  wait. 
For  faith  will  remind  you  that  the  qualities 
and  powers  of  nature  are  God's  gifts,  and 
that  it  is  in  the  use  of  the  talents  which 


I  Lectures  on  Preaching  19 

God  has  given  that  you  will  best  serve 
Him.  But  the  vain  and  foolish  desire  to 
be  other  than  you  are  will  not  only  end 
in  the  failure  which  waits  on  all  unreality, 
but  will  leave  unused  and  undeveloped  the 
very  gifts  which  the  divine  wisdom  gave 
you,  that  with  them  you  might  serve  your 
generation. 

The  second  rule  is,  "  Suppress  yourself." 
This  is  the  paradox  of  power.  We  must, 
before  all  things,  be  ourselves  ;  and  yet 
we  must,  above  all  things,  suppress  our- 
selves. In  the  order  of  nature's  gifts  we 
must  be  ourselves  ;  we  must  yield  to  no 
temptation,  which  ambition  or  indolence 
sets  before  us,  to  be  mere  copyists  of 
another  man's  talents.  But  in  the  order 
of  moral  and  spiritual  life  we  must  suppress 
ourselves.  We  must  learn  the  meaning 
of  that  apostolic  thought — "  I,  yet  not  I." 
The  man  must  be  himself,  but  yet  he  must 


20  Lectures  on  Treadling         lect. 

crucify  self.     For  only  thus  can  the  fulness 
of    his    very    self   come    forth.      Galahad 
realised   this    when    he    cried,  "If    I    lose 
myself,  I   find  myself."     If  self-expression 
be    a    true    instinct,    the    safe    avenue    to 
self-expression  lies  through  self-repression  ; 
for   self-consciousness   is  the   hindrance  of 
all  free  expression,  whether  by  pen  or  pencil 
or  tongue.     The  powers  of  our  nature  do 
not  work  freely  without  careful   develop- 
ment ;    and    even    when    developed,    self- 
consciousness  comes  as  a  check  upon  the 
free    use    of    our    powers.       This    is    the 
explanation,  I    think,  of  a   great   deal    of 
that    ineffective    industry    which    is    such 
a   pathetic   spectacle.     We    see    people   of 
unquestioned    ability  and    of    persevering 
dispositions,    who     yet     fail     to     produce 
any    really    effective    work.       Their    con- 
scientious   determination    seems    to    miss 
its   reward.     Their  talent    only  serves    to 


I  Lectures  on  T* reaching  21 

show  how  easy  it  is  to  miss  the  mark. 
"  Cousin  Dryden,"  said  Milton,  "  you  will 
never  make  a  poet."  Diligence  could 
not  supply  the  place  of  the  one  missing 
element.  George  Eliot  could  write  a 
novel,  but  when  she  took  to  verse  her 
right  hand  lost  its  cunning.  The 
abandon,  the  self-forgetfulness,  the  losing 
of  self  in  the  joy  of  the  creative  work, 
does  not  belong  to  such  workers.  We 
understand  what  Sir  Joshua  Reynolds 
meant  when  he  said  of  the  painstaking 
work  which  exhibited  faultless  accuracy  of 
treatment,  "  It  wants  that!'  "  It  wants  thaf 
— the  indescribable  something,  which  adds 
enchantment  and  charm  to  picture  or  verse, 
is  lacking.  Such  artists  have  missed  the  kiss 
of  the  fairy  at  their  birth.  The  glorious 
self-absorption  in  the  thing  that  has  to  be 
done,  is  not  there  :  the  delight  in  the  work, 
apart    from   results,   and    still    more   apart 


22  Lectures  on  Preaching         lect. 

from  human  applause  or  gain,  is  absent. 
The  achievement  is  attempted  in  the  wrong 
way.  It  is  sought  directly  ;  the  end  is 
clear ;  the  means  are  clear ;  the  worker 
understands  the  rules  ;  he  toils  by  measure 
and  with  a  painful  fidelity  to  well-recognised 
canons  ;  but  he  fails.  There  is  no  inspira- 
tion in  it  ;  he  is  self-conscious  all  the  while. 
Wholly  different  is  the  way  of  genius 
which  is  interpenetrated  with  the  enthusiasm 
of  art.  Were  none  at  hand  he  must 
draw,  if  he  is  a  painter.  If  he  is  a  poet, 
he  sings  but  as  the  linnets  do.  The  song 
is  sweet ;  the  colour  is  sacred  ;  and  the  form 
is  full  of  joy.  Such  a  person  is  not 
governed  by  success.  The  ruling  power 
is  the  passion  to  do  ;  the  whole  self  is  in 
it,  and  lost  in  it.  There  is  no  thought 
of  self ;  there  is  a  supreme  necessity  to  do 
that  one  thing.  This  is  the  inevitableness 
of  genius  of  which  the  critics  have  spoken. 


I  Lectures  on  Preaching  23 

The  same  spirit  kindles  in  the  hearts 
of  those  who  feel  that  they  have  a 
message  from  God,  There  is  no  thought 
of  self.  The  coal  from  the  altar  has 
touched  their  lips.  The  word  of  the 
Lord  is  as  fire  in  their  bones.  Necessity 
is  laid  upon  them.  Like  the  Apostle  they 
cry,  "  Woe  is  me  if  I  preach  not  the  gospel." 
The  "  I "  is  lost  in  the  message,  and  the 
divine  prompting  is  shown  in  the  "  not  I." 
It  is  only  when  a  divine  enthusiasm  takes 
possession  of  the  soul  that  the  miserable 
self-consciousness  can  be  got  rid  of. 

This  self  -  consciousness  hinders  alike 
the  man  of  intellectual  and  the  man  of 
emotional  type.  The  man  of  intellectual 
type  distrusts  his  emotions  ;  his  power  of 
self-  criticism  makes  him  averse  to  any 
display  of  feeling.  He  hates  to  make  a 
fool  of  himself.  He  restrains,  curbs,  and 
almost   kills    natural   feeling.       His   self- 


24  Lectures  on  Preaching        lect. 

consciousness    takes  the  form   of  a  pride 
of  indifference.     He  thereby  loses  the  aid 
which  the  strong  emotions  of  earnestness 
might  give  him.     He  is  not,  being  proudly 
reticent,  his  real  self.     None  the  less  does 
the    emotional    type    of  man   become  the 
victim  of  self-consciousness.     He   has  no 
reticence  ;    he    yields   too   readily    to    his 
feelings  ;  even  when  there  is  no  adequate 
cause    he    is     sentimental ;     his    intellect 
exercises     no     guiding     judgment.       He 
bubbles  into  emotionalism  on  the  smallest 
provocation.     He  cultivates  the  emotional 
manner  till  it  becomes  an  unreality.     His 
very  self-consciousness  leads  him  into   an 
exaggerated  manifestation  of  the  emotions 
which   at   first  were  genuine  and  natural, 
but  which  have  at  length  become  artificial 
and  insincere.     The  remedy  for  both  these 
evils  is  the  same  :  the  presence  of  a  pure, 
simple  love — the  love  of  work,  the  love  of 


I  Lectures  on  Preaching  25 

God,  the  love  of  man.  The  first  and  great 
commandment  is  the  panacea  for  all  moral 
and  spiritual  maladies,  for  disingenuous- 
ness,  for  fear,  for  ostentation,  for  pride. 
Love  has  no  self-consciousness.  Genuine 
kindness  has  no  room  for  pride  or  timidity, 
and  has  no  need  of  gush.  Its  own  reality 
protects  it.  It  banishes  shyness,  which  is 
a  subtle  form  of  pride.  It  endows  with 
courage,  "  Think  of  the  pleasure  you  can 
give  to  others,  and  you  will  not  think  of 
yourself,"  said  Archbishop  Whateley  to  the 
girl  who  was  painfully  shy  when  asked 
to  play  the  piano  at  an  evening  party. 
When  Mrs.  Bancroft  was  young,  and 
appearing  upon  the  stage  was  too  shy  to 
raise  her  voice  sufficiently  to  be  heard, 
her  mother  overcame  her  shyness  by  a 
similar  appeal,  "  Over  yonder,"  she  said, 
"  there  is  a  poor  man  who  has  paid  his 
hard-earned   shilling    to   see   the   play  ;    if 


26  Lectures  on  Preaching        lect. 

you  don't  speak  so  that  he  can  hear,  he 
will  go  away  disappointed."  There  was 
profound  wisdom  in  such  an  appeal.  It 
called  up  the  better  feelings  to  overcome 
the  worse.  Think  of  the  people  to  whom 
you  are  speaking.  Think  of  their  needs,  of 
the  spiritual  want  which  perchance  you 
can  supply,  of  the  heart-craving  which  you 
can  satisfy,  of  the  inward  unspoken  sorrow 
which  you  can  console,  and  a  new  and 
better  passion  than  self-consciousness  will 
take  possession  of  you.  You  will  forget 
your  pride,  your  timidity,  in  thinking  of 
their  wants.  You  will  catch  the  spirit  of 
your  Master  ;  you  will  hear  His  voice 
saying,  "  I  have  compassion  on  the  multi- 
tudes." A  joy  and  a  zest  of  work  will 
be  yours,  and  the  much  -  hindering  self- 
consciousness  will  disappear.  You  will 
lose  the  thought  of  self  in  the  thought 
for  others. 


I  Lectures  on  Preaching  27 

There  remains  only  one  thing  more  to 
be  said.  Better  perhaps,  as  leading  us  to 
the  highest  source  of  power,  is  it  when  we 
lose  the  thought  of  self  in  the  remembrance 
of  God.  To  lose  ourselves  in  our  work, 
and  in  the  earnest  wish  to  be  of  service  to 
our  people — this  is  good.  It  is  a  still 
higher  thing  to  forget  ourselves  in  God. 
After  all,  it  is  the  realisation  that  He 
has  sent  us,  which  brings  with  it  the  sense 
of  that  nobler  necessity  which  not  only 
banishes  that  miserable  feeling  of  self- 
consciousness,  but  lifts  us  to  a  higher 
plane  of  life.  The  sense  that  there  is 
something  which  God  would  have  us  do, 
which  He  has  ordered  for  us  beforehand, 
raises  us  above  the  passing  emotions,  dreads, 
and  failures  of  the  present.  That  strong 
and  striking  fatalism  which  marked  the 
mental  attitude  of  great  men  in  the  past 
was  but  the  groping  after  this  truth.     The 


28  Lectures  on  Preaching         lect. 

sense  of  God  behind  us,  behind  our  life, 
behind  our  work,  imparts  a  charm,  a 
worshipfulness,  a  joyous  security,  to  all 
that  we  do.  We  can  understand  the 
longing  of  gifted  men  to  realise  the 
guidance  of  God  in  their  work.  We  can 
understand  how  Haydn  never  attempted 
to  compose  till  he  had  prayed.  Upon  the 
instrument  of  Gounod  the  head  of  the 
Christ  was  carved,  to  remind  him  of  Him 
whose  presence  and  power  could  sanctify 
and  elevate  human  work.  The  preacher 
should  not  be  behind  such  men  as  these. 
He,  of  all  others,  needs  to  realise  the 
divine  power  and  presence.  It  is  when  his 
own  personality  is  interpenetrated  by  the 
presence  of  One  greater  and  higher  than 
himself  that  his  personality  is  really  capable 
of  expressing  itself  most  fully  and  most 
truly  among  men.  It  is  when  he  yields 
himself  most    absolutely    and    completely 


I  Lectures  on  Preaching  29 

to  the  message  which  God  gives  him 
that  he  is  nearest  to  reaching  the  people's 
hearts.  Like  the  Baptist,  he  must  have  no 
name,  no  self,  to  put  before  his  audience. 
"  Who  art  thou .?  "  is  the  constant  question  ; 
and  still  the  answer  must  be,  "  Not  Elias, 
not  Jeremias,  not  one  of  the  prophets,  nor 
I  nor  any  other  name  of  earth  would  I 
be  to  you.  Only  would  I  be  the  voice 
which  speaks  the  divine  message  to  men." 
In  such  a  man  the  realisation  of  the 
divine  call  will  overpower  every  other 
feeling.  Egotism  can  find  no  place.  Our 
ambition  of  saying  smart  things,  tell- 
ing good  anecdotes,  concocting  effective 
passages,  will  die  out.  We  shall  desire 
only  to  carry  words  that  may  live  in  the 
hearts  and  lives  of  men.  A  young  man  who 
was  about  to  be  ordained  went  to  bid  good- 
bye to  the  master  of  his  college.  "  You 
are   going   to    be   a  clergyman,"  said   the 


30  Lectures  on  Preaching         lect. 

master,  "  and  no  doubt  you  think  that  the 
essays  you  have  composed  here  will  be 
of  use  to  you  in  preaching.  Do  not  use 
them — preach  living  words  to  living  men." 
Such  was  the  counsel  of  the  late  Master 
ofBalliol. 

No,  gentlemen  !  no  higher  ambition  can 
be  ours  than  that  our  words  should  be 
living  words ;  and  only  when  they  are 
the  honest  expression  of  our  own  con- 
victions, spoken  under  the  power  of  a 
compulsion  greater  than  our  own,  will 
they  be  living  words  to  living  men.  Nor 
need  we  doubt  or  despair  ;  heaven's  way 
is  always  open  to  men.  There  is  a  story 
of  an  artist  confined  in  Crete  among  a 
rude  people.  He  longed  to  cross  the 
ocean  to  some  cultivated  city  where  his 
work  would  be  valued  and  understood  ; 
but  no  way  was  open  across  earth  or 
ocean.     He   could  not,   he  reflected,   pass 


I  Lectures  on  Preaching  31 

to  other  towns ;  but  one  way  was 
open — 

"  Restat  iter  caeli,  cjelo  tentabimus  ire." 

Restat  iter  c^eli.  You  may  be  called  to 
preach  among  people  who  seem  to  you 
dull  and  unsympathetic.  You  may  be  in 
the  lonely  moorland  parish,  where  the  folk 
care  little  for  anything  beyond  the  growth 
of  the  fields  and  the  changes  of  the  weather. 
You  may  be  in  the  crowded  town,  where 
the  intellectual  and  moral  level  is  low 
and  discouraging.  You  may  be  tempted 
to  think,  "  These  are  dull,  ignorant  people 
— anything  will  do  for  them."  When  this 
temptation  is  yours,  recall  the  divine 
message  and  the  divine  calling,  and 
resolve  to  put  your  whole  self  into  your 
work  of  preaching.  If  success,  or 
popularity,  or  encouraging  appreciation  be 
not  given  to  you,  remember  the  heavenly 
way  of  earnestness,  of  honesty,  of  God's 


32  Lectures  on  Preaching      lect.  i 

approval,  is  still  open.  If  there  be  few 
to  listen  and  none  to  applaud,  remember 
that  none  the  less  your  whole  spirit  and 
soul  are  God's,  and  that  they  must  be  in  this 
work  ;  for  only  thus  will  you  become, 
what  I  am  sure  you  desire  to  be,  real, 
efficient,  and  whole-hearted  ministers  of 
Christ. 


LECTURE   II 

The  last  lecture  dealt  with  the  great  and 
supreme  importance  of  preserving,  and 
working  through,  our  own  personality.  As 
life  is  sacred,  so  is  our  selfhood  to  be 
esteemed  a  sacred  thing,  inasmuch  as  it  is 
the  vehicle  through  which  we  can  carry- 
God's  message  to  the  world.  As  God  has 
given  to  every  seed  its  own  body,  and  to 
every  flower  its  own  form,  so  is  there  for 
every  human  being  an  order  according  to 
which  it  is  natural  that  he  should  develop, 
and  it  is  in  his  ripening  according  to  this 
order  that  he  can  best  discharge  his  duty 
and   deliver  a  true    message  to   mankind. 

D 


34  Lectures  on  Preaching         lect. 

The  more  clearly  we  grasp  this  thought, 
the  more  reverently  shall  we  gird  ourselves 
for  that  vocation  in  life  to  which  God  may 
see  fit  to  call  us.  This  is  true  of  every  life. 
It  is  emphatically  true  of  the  clergyman's 
life.  The  man  who  is  called  to  so  sacred 
a  ministry  must  be  of  all  others  that  man 
which  God  meant  him  to  be.  The  gifts, 
powers,  and  capacities  given  to  him  from 
his  birth  it  is  his  duty  to  cultivate,  because  in 
the  cultivation  of  these  lies  the  best  possible 
means  of  his  self-expression ;  and  the  better 
he  can  express  himself  to  mankind,  the 
more  completely  will  he  be  able  to  fulfil  his 
ministry  among  men. 

To  fulfil  this  ministry  it  is  our  duty 
in  the  highest  and  noblest  sense  to  make 
the  best  of  ourselves.  We  touch  here 
the  duty  of  self-cultivation.  In  the  first 
place,  I  ask  you  to  notice  the  great  necessity 
that  exists  for  it.     In  the  second  instance. 


II  Lectures  on  Preaching  i^c^ 

the  spirit  and  methods    in  which  we  can 
best  attain  it. 

First,  I  would  speak  of  the  necessity  of  self- 
culture  and  of  self-training  for  the  work  of 
preaching.  I  say  for  the  work  of  preach- 
ing, for  though  it  applies  to  all  aspects  of 
ministerial  work,  the  subject  of  preaching 
is  that  which  it  is  our  special  duty  to  keep 
in  mind.  Two  or  three  preliminary  diffi- 
culties may  be  dealt  with.  Training  and 
cultivation  may  be  objected  to  on  the 
ground  that  preaching  ought  to  be  natural 
and  not  oratorical.  "  I  dislike,"  we  have 
sometimes  heard  it  said — "  I  dislike  ora- 
torical preaching."  What  is  natural,  we  all 
agree,  is  certainly  best.  But  we  may  con- 
sider whether  we  are  not  likely  to  be 
betrayed  by  the  use  of  a  phrase  into  a  mis- 
conception of  the  case  ;  we  may  be  misled 
by  the  ambiguity  of  a  word. 

This   argument   against   what   is   called 


^6  Lectures  on  Preaching        lect. 

oratorical  preaching  seems  to  me  to  in- 
volve either  a  quibble  or  an  untruth.  It 
may  involve  a  quibble.  If  the  word 
oratorical  is  used  in  a  bad  sense,  and  is 
the  equivalent  of  the  artificial  and  unreal 
speech  which  strains  after  effect,  then  by- 
all  means  let  us  banish  oratorical  preaching. 
But  why  should  we  condemn  the  word  ora- 
torical to  bear  this  sense .?  Many  words  are 
capable  of  a  good  as  well  as  of  a  bad  sense. 
Even  in  the  presence  of  those  learned 
teachers  who  are  here,  I  may  say  that  it  is 
possible  to  speak  of  a  Professor  as  if  we 
meant  a  mere  Professor  and  nothing  more. 
But  why  should  we  speak  as  though  only 
a  bad  meaning  attached  to  the  word  ?  It  is 
an  unfair  method  of  argument  to  commence 
by  forcing  an  ill  meaning  on  a  word,  and 
then  conducting  the  argument  in  such  a 
fashion  that  the  good  meaning  of  the  word 
is   forgotten.       But,   gentlemen,    you   will 


II  Lectures  on  Preaching  37 

not  be  imposed  upon  by  such  a  quibble  in 
the  case  of  this  word  oratorical.  Oratorical 
does  not  necessarily  •  mean  artificial  and 
ostentatious.  But  the  objection  that 
natural  preaching  is  to  be  preferred  to 
oratorical,  if  not  a  quibble,  suggests  what 
is  untrue.  It  suggests  that  all  oratory  is 
unnatural — and  by  what  right  do  you  tell 
me  that  what  is  oratorical  is  not  natural  ^ 
On  the  contrary,  few  things  are  more  natural 
to  a  man  than  oratory.  Watch  a  child  in 
a  passion  and  see  how  oratorical  are  its 
utterances.  Observe  the  old  woman  in  the 
market  -  place  when  she  is  eager  to  vend 
her  wares,  and  tell  me  if  she  is  not  most 
proficient  in  the  art  of  oratory.  I  call 
to  mind  how  once  in  the  market  -  place 
at  Bangor  I  was  fascinated  by  the  eloquence 
of  an  old  woman.  I  understood  not  a  single 
word  of  her  speech,  for  she  spoke  Welsh,  but 
her  eloquence  was  obvious.     If  you  listen 


38  Lectures  on  Preaching        lect. 

to  the  Cheap-Jack  who  wishes  to  persuade 
you  to  a  bargain,  you  will  find  him  eloquent 
and  oratorical,  for  he  is  in  earnest.  There 
is  often  fire  in  his  words,  for  he  speaks 
with  a  purpose.  If  you  speak  with  a 
purpose,  you  too  will  find  your  heart 
glow ;  you  will  become  oratorical  when 
life  enters  into  your  words,  I  therefore 
challenge  the  theory  that  to  be  oratorical 
is  necessarily  to  be  unreal,  for  oratory  is 
natural  to  men. 

But  this  leads  us  to  another  difficulty. 
It  may  be  said,  "  If  oratory  is  natural, 
then  training  is  needless."  But  this  again 
is  mere  trifling.  We  can  safely  traverse 
the  spirit  of  such  a  statement.  It  is  true 
that  no  man  will  become  a  great  preacher 
or  a  great  speaker  by  training,  but  it  is 
also  true  that  no  man  will  become  a  great 
or  effective  speaker  without  training.  No 
man  will  become  great  in  any  line  of  life 


II  Lectures  on  Preaching  39 

merely  by  training.  There  are  callings,  it 
may  be,  which  need  no  special  aptitude  ; 
ordinary  intelligence  and  industry  conjoined 
with  training  will  fit  a  man  for  them.  But 
there  are  vocations  for  which  some  special 
aptitude  or  gift  is  necessary,  and  without 
the  possession  of  some  such  quality  success 
is  impossible.  Where  this  is  wanting  no 
amount  of  training  will  supply  its  place. 
No  power  of  evolution  will  develop  the 
beautifiil  mechanism  of  the  hand  out  of 
the  head  of  a  broomstick.  There  must 
be  original  capacity  for  development  in 
a  certain  direction,  or  there  will  be  no 
fitting  development.  You  cannot  by  mere 
training  make  a  man  a  great  poet,  or 
even  a  minor  poet,  unless  he  be  a  poet 
born.  It  is  the  same  with  the  true  artist ; 
he  is  not  made  by  mere  training.  Train- 
ing will  not  give  the  poet's  eye  for  beauty, 
or  the   artist's    eye   for    colour.     Attempt 


40  Lectures  on  Preaching        lect. 

it,  and  your  attempt  will  result  in  calami- 
tous failure.  Training  cannot  supply  the 
place  of  native  capacity. 

Does  it  follow,  then,  that  training  is  of 
no  service  ^  Shall  we  argue  that  because 
a  man  cannot  be  made  great  by  training, 
therefore  training  is  superfluous?  or  that 
because  natural  gifts  are  essential  to  success, 
therefore  their  cultivation  is  needless? — no 
reasonable  man  will  argue  thus.  Reflec- 
tion will  show  us  that  many  things  are 
natural  to  us,  but  the  power  to  do  them 
does  not  come  to  us  by  nature.  It  is 
natural  to  us  to  walk,  but  we  were  all 
taught  to  walk.  It  is  natural  to  us  to 
talk,  but  were  not  the  first  syllables  of 
speech  put  into  our  lips  ?  It  is  natural  to 
man  to  swim,  but  who  ever  heard  of  a 
man  being  able  to  swim  without  having 
learned?  It  is  a  mistake  to  suppose  that 
because  a  thing  is  natural  there  is  no  need 


II  Lectures  on  Preaching  41 

of  trained  skill  in  the  doing  of  it.  Educa- 
tion develops  our  capacities,  and  training 
bestows  skill  upon  us.  In  the  full  pos- 
session of  our  powers,  and  of  skill  in  the 
use  of  them,  we  become  free  men.  All 
early  life  resembles  a  struggle  for  free- 
dom. Young  life  is  like  the  life  of  the 
man  who  is  dragged  out  of  the  water  half 
drowned  ;  he  fights  to  recover  his  breath, 
because  he  recovers  freedom  and  power  of 
existence  in  recovering  his  breath.  The 
same  is  the  case  with  the  child  born 
yesterday  :  it  struggles  to  enter  into  the 
possession  of  its  life.  Every  step  of  growth 
is  a  step  towards  that  full  possession  of 
life  which  is  freedom.  When  the  child 
is  taught  gymnastics  or  dancing,  what  is 
the  real  value  of  such  teaching  ^  Do  you 
believe  that  the  wise  parents  think  first  or 
mainly  of  the  triumphs  of  the  field  or 
the  ball-room  ^     No  ;  they  are  alive  to  a 


42  Lectures  on  breaching         lect. 

nobler  gain  than  such  trifles.  They  see 
that  the  advantage  of  such  a  training  lies 
in  the  mastery  which  the  child  acquires 
over  its  own  frame,  in  the  capacity  to 
use  its  powers.  This  is  the  true  value 
of  the  drill -ground.  Children's  clumsy 
little  hands  and  awkward  limbs  need 
discipline.  Their  fingers  are  all  thumbs, 
we  say  ;  they  need  to  be  exercised  till 
they  answer  readily  to  the  bidding  of  the 
will ;  the  nerve-centres  are  not  yet  capable 
of  prompt  response  and  firm  guidance. 
Training  is  directed  toward  bringing  the 
physical  powers  under  the  control  and 
direction  of  the  will.  Grace  of  movement 
is  naturalness  of  movement  ;  this,  in  the 
early  stages,  is  lacking,  because  the  will- 
power, nerve-centres,  and  muscle  are  not 
yet  co-ordinated.  The  child  is  trained 
that  it  may  gain  the  mastery  over,  and  the 
use  of,  its  own  powers.     It  is  the  same  with 


II  Lectures  on  Preaching  43 

mental  discipline.  When  Euclid  was  put 
before  you  for  the  first  time  in  your 
life,  it  was  not  simply  that  you  might 
learn  that  the  angles  at  the  base  of  an 
isosceles  triangle  are  equal,  or  that  the 
three  angles  of  a  triangle  are  equal  to 
two  right  angles.  There  was  a  purpose 
greater  than  mere  knowledge  in  your 
study.  Gymnastics  give  mastery  over  the 
physical  frame,  so  the  discipline  of  Euclid 
makes  you  master  of  your  powers  of 
reason.  It  is  the  possession  of  mental 
power,  not  of  mere  knowledge,  that  is 
aimed  at,  for  only  when  a  man  is  master 
of  his  powers  of  frame  and  brain  is  he 
truly  a  free  man ;  not  till  then  has  he 
power  to  live  his  life  fully.  We  hear 
people  talk  about  freedom  of  thought  as 
though  freedom  of  thought  meant  the 
right  to  accept  any  novelty  of  opinion 
or  mad   freak  of  ignorance.     Freedom  of 


44  Lectures  on  Preaching         lect. 

thought  is  only  possible  where  there  is 
freedom  of  mind,  and  the  mind  is  only 
free  when  it  can  work  freely  and  smoothly 
as  a  well-made  machine,  working  accord- 
ing to  its  own  order.  Thus  the  natural 
use  of  the  mind  is  given  to  us  through 
training. 

As  then  it  is  natural  to  use  our  limbs, 
but  we  need  training  to  use  them  gracefully, 
i.e.  naturally  ;  as  it  is  natural  to  use  our 
minds,  but  it  is  needful  to  train  them  for 
their  natural  use  ;  so  also  it  is  natural  to 
speak,  but  there  is  need  of  some  training 
that  speech  may  be  effective. 

But  there  is  another  objection  which 
may  be  noticed.  It  is  argued  that  training 
may  be  necessary,  but  that  it  has  a  ten- 
dency to  denaturalise  the  man  in  the 
process ;  the  trained  speaker,  it  is  said, 
becomes  the  artificial  speaker.  There  is  of 
course  always  a  risk  of  this,  but  we  must 


11  Lectures  on  F reaching  45 

not  conclude  that  training  necessarily  de- 
naturalises, merely  because  we  have  met 
with  some  persons  who,  after  elaborate 
training,  have  become  artificial  in  manner. 
Artificiality  is  rather  an  evidence  of  in- 
adequate training  than  a  proof  of  the 
viciousness  of  all  training.  There  is  no 
necessity  that  training  should  lead  to  arti- 
ficiality. Where  this  result  occurs  it  is 
more  likely  that  the  training  has  been 
bad,  or  else  (you  will  forgive  the  sugges- 
tion) there  has  been  something  wrong 
in  the  person  who  has  been  trained.  It 
may  be  possible  that  the  defects  com- 
plained of  may  be  the  defects  due  to 
character,  or  to  neglect  of  opportunities. 
In  this  the  parable  of  the  sower  may 
teach  us.  Our  Lord  told  us  that  some 
seed  fell  by  the  wayside  ;  it  was  profitless 
sowing,  for  no  fruit  grew  up.  Other  seed 
fell  among  thorns,  and  the  thorns  sprang 


46  Lectures  on  Preaching         lect. 

up  with  it  and  choked  it  ;  other  fell  upon 
rocky  soil,  which  lacked  depth  of  earth 
and  therefore  withered  under  the  heat 
of  the  sun.  It  is  a  lesson  for  all  life. 
The  value  of  teaching  depends  upon  the 
spirit  with  which  it  is  met.  With  some, 
teaching  leads  to  no  result  whatever.  In  the 
case  of  others,  there  is  a  quick  and  shallow 
result ;  while  with  others,  conceit,  or  vanity, 
or  idle  imitativeness  spring  up  with  the 
seed,  and  the  result  is  scarcely  profitable 
because  mixed  with  unreality.  Personal 
eagerness  for  success  ruins  the  effect  of 
education.  Thus  thorns  choke  the  develop- 
ing powers,  and  the  best  results  of  study 
are  thwarted  and  weakened.  Honest  and 
careful  study,  on  the  other  hand,  when 
conducted  on  right  lines,  will  enlarge  our 
views,  increase  our  natural  capacity,  and 
add  to  our  strength  of  will. 

There  is,  however,  another  danger  against 


II  Lectures  on  Preaching  47 

which  the  student  needs  to  watch.     He  may 
be  betrayed  by  the  worship  of  form,  instead 
of  remembering  that  form  is  only  the  vehicle 
of  thought.    There  are  artists  who  are  wor- 
shippers of  form.    Everything  must  be  sur- 
rendered rather  than  external  beauty.     To 
such  the  raiment  is  more  than  the  body. 
Truth    and    fidelity  to    the    idea    are   less 
than    the    form.      This    worship    of  form 
results  in  a  certain  development  of  taste, 
a   fastidiousness  of  taste,  but    it  leads  to 
loss  of  power.     The  truth,  the  idea,  must 
find    its    own    form,  rather    than   lose    its 
veracity  by  being  forced  into  some  special 
mould.      Nature    expresses    herself    in    an 
infinite  variety  of  forms,  and  all  of  them 
have  a  beauty  of  their  own,  but  the  form 
is    a  true   expression   in   each   case.     It  is 
not   assumed    because   it   is    beautiful.      It 
IS    beautiful    because    it    is   a   natural    and 
true  expression.     Here  again  we  meet  the 


48  Lectures  on  Preaching        lect. 

inevitableness  of  which  I  spoke  in  my  last 
lecture  ;  wherever  there  is  this  inevitableness 
there  must  be  beauty.  It  is  so  true,  and  so 
truly  expressed,  that  we  feel  it  could  not  be 
otherwise.  We  may  worship  too  much  what 
is  called  the  artistic  side  of  things;  but 
in  doing  so,  we  may  cease  to  be  artists. 
Faultlessness  of  form  is  not  the  same  as 
splendour  in  art.  On  the  contrary,  the  over- 
straining after  it  produces  a  certain  weakness. 
You  remember  how  Browning  put  this  before 
us  in  his  poem.  The  faultless  painter, 
Andrea  del  Sarto,  criticises  the  work  of 
his  great  contemporary.  His  eye,  keen  for 
form,  detects  the  ill-drawing  of  the  forearm 
in  one  of  the  figures.  With  one  touch  he 
could  set  it  right,  but  he  abstains — 

"  Indeed  the  arm  is  wrong, 
I  hardly  dare  .   .  .  yet,  only  you  to  see. 
Give  the  chalk    here — quick,  thus   the   line  should 

go  ! 
Ay,  but  the  soul  !  he's  Rafael  !   rub  it  out." 


II  Lectures  on  Preaching  49 

We  see  the  whole  position.  In  his  soul 
Andrea  worships  the  natural  strength  of  the 
greater  artist,  but  he  himself  has  lost  his 
original  strength  ;  he  has  denaturalised  him- 
self through  a  weak  and  fastidious  devotion 
to  mere  form.  Now  the  object  of  training  is 
not  to  suppress  nature,  but  to  enable  nature 
to  affirm  itself  in  fitting  form.  True  art  is 
reached  when  nature  can  express  itself  nobly 
and  well.  The  history  of  English  poetry 
illustrates  this  principle.  The  soul  of  song 
was  well-nigh  lost  by  the  tyranny  of  form. 
It  is  the  restoration  of  the  spirit  of  nature 
when  we  pass  from  the  smooth  versification 
of  Pope  and  his  imitators  to  the  free  heart- 
utterances  of  Cowper  and  Wordsworth.  In 
all  work  there  is  the  danger  which  springs 
from  the  worship  of  the  material  rather 
than  of  the  thought  which  the  artist  compels 
the  material  to  express.  He  is  the  truest 
artist  who  compels  the  material  to  speak 

E 


50  Lectures  on  Preaching         lect. 

his  thought  to  the  world.  To  surrender 
your  thought  to  the  vehicle  of  form  is 
to  confess  yourself  weaker  than  your 
instrument.  "  I  have  never,"  said  Dante, 
"  used  a  word  for  rhyme's  sake."  With 
him  thought  was  first,  and  words  must 
do  the  bidding  of  thought  :  thought 
must  not  be  surrendered  for  the  sake 
of  a  beautiful  word.  Better  poorer 
material  in  which  thought  lives  than  the 
richest  which  fails  to  express  it.  Quin- 
tilian  long  since  spoke  the  same  truth. 
Marble  is  a  precious  stone,  but  a  common 
stone  wrought  into  beauty  by  the  hand 
of  Phidias  is  more  precious  than  marble. 
The  mind  of  genius  lifts  the  stone  above 
its  natural  value.  Cultivation  and  train- 
ing are  designed  to  give  freedom  to  the 
artist's  hand  of  genius.  By  their  means  he  is 
able  to  express  his  soul  to  the  world  :  the 
material  he  uses  becomes  obedient  to  his 


II  Lectures  on  Preaching  51 

mind  and  will.  This  is  his  creative  power, 
for  thus  his  spirit  embodies  itself  in 
form.  In  this  way  the  preacher  should  by 
cultivation  become  master  of  his  material, 
and  so  capable  of  giving  forth  freely 
and  simply  his  thought  and  message  to 
men. 

What  spirit  and  method  may  we  best 
use  in  this  self-cultivation  ^  I  am  not 
about  to  lay  down  any  rules  of  oratory 
—  far  from  it.  Gentlemen,  there  are 
hand-books  on  elocution  and  manuals 
for  orators  to  which  some  public  men  fly, 
as  the  indolent-brained  resort  to  ready- 
reckoners.  There  may  be  some  apology, 
grounded  on  practical  utility,  made  for  the 
use  of  the  ready -reckoner;  but  there  is 
no  such  apology  for  the  reliance  upon 
manuals  which  pretend  to  abridge  the 
labour  of  the  preacher.  Short  cuts  to 
success  are  usually  quick  roads  to  disaster. 


^2  Lectures  on  Preaching        lect. 

By-path    Meadow    led    to    the    Castle    of 
Despair. 

I  do  not  believe  that  we  can  ever  evade 
the  wholesome  law  of  hard  work,  which 
tests  earnestness  and  invigorates  power. 
The  wish  to  reach  the  goal  without 
running  over  the  course  is  the  sign  of 
a  vain  and  foolish  mind.  I  would  not, 
therefore,  even  if  I  could,  give  you  a  single 
rule  which  would  enable  you  to  evade  the 
labour  and  industry  which  are  indispensable 
to  all  who  desire  to  do  lasting  good.  I 
speak  to  you  as  men  who  are,  I  hope, 
persuaded  that  only  honest  hard  work 
and  patient  study  can  lead  to  true  success. 
Let  us  dismiss  from  our  minds  at  once  the 
delusive  idea  that  we  can  ever  do  worthy 
work  by  unworthy  means,  that  we  can  reap 
without  sowing,  or  have  any  hope  of  winning 
the  race  by  evading  the  fair  rules  of  the 
course.      I   would  only  speak  of  the  true 


II  Lectures  on  Preaching  53 

forms  of  training.  This  you  will  under- 
stand. All  that  I  can  do  is  to  put  you  on 
your  guard  against  some  mistaken  ideas  of 
preparation  for  work.  Let  me  illustrate  two 
opposite  methods.  There  are  two  men  com- 
mencing their  studies  in  the  same  sculptor's 
studio.  One  thinks  he  will  find  out  the 
trick  of  the  master  who  teaches  him.  He 
carefully  watches  every  movement  of  the 
skilful  hand.  He  sees  with  what  trained 
dexterity  the  artist  employs,  as  living  instru- 
ments, his  fingers.  It  is  a  wondrous  trick 
which  the  sculptor  possesses.  He  is  eager  to 
catch  it.  He  thinks  he  sees  what  it  is — yes, 
he  has,  so  he  believes,  nearly  caught  it ;  but 
he  never  does.  The  other  man  puts  his 
whole  soul  alongside  the  artist's  soul.  He 
endeavours  to  read  his  larger  purpose. 
He  fain  would  catch,  not  the  trick,  but 
the  spirit  of  the  master.  With  unskilful 
fingers    and    clumsy    hands    he    strives    to 


54  Lectures  on  Preaching         lect. 

mould  the  clay.  His  work  in  it  is  crude, 
unfinished,  yes,  unsightly,  but  he  has  put 
himself  into  it  :  it  is  living  work  with  the 
spirit  of  the  man  in  it.  This  is  the  differ- 
ence between  desire  to  do  real  work  and 
the  desire  of  mere  effect.  Idle  and  disin- 
genuous souls  are  content  with  the  clever 
trickery  which  simulates  art.  Honest  men 
are  discontented  with  anything  short  of 
real  bona-fide  work. 

I  am  not,  you  will  understand,  at  the 
present,  speaking  of  the  preparation  of  the 
sermon — later,  I  hope  to  speak  more 
specifically  of  that.  I  am  now  speaking  of 
the  general  training  of  self  and  of  the 
cultivation  of  those  qualities  which  are  in- 
dispensable to  all  effective  work.  We  must 
prepare  our  sermons,  but  before  we  do  this 
it  is  needful  that  we  prepare  ourselves  to  be 
teachers  of  others.  In  the  judgment  of  Cicero 
oratory  included  the  study  of  philosophy. 


II  Lectures  on  Preaching  55 

of  laws,  of  the  structure  and  nature  of  man's 
frame,  of  the  arts  of  reasoning,  of  history 
and  poetry.  Indeed,  as  Fenelon  remarked, 
he  seems  to  think  that  an  orator  should 
know  everything.  I  am  ready  to  admit 
that  time  and  opportunity  are  often  against 
the  possibility  of  so  elaborate  a  training. 
But  the  spirit  of  Cicero's  counsel  is  just 
and  fit.  Cicero  meant  that  the  man  who 
would  speak  effectually  to  his  fellowmen 
must  be  a  man  whose  range  of  thought 
and  study  was  large.  Everything  belong- 
ing to  the  provinces  of  human  life  and 
thought,  of  human  history  and  human 
nature,  should  enlist  his  interest,  and 
provide  food  for  his  thought.  His  range 
must  be  larger  than  his  profession.  In  the 
same  spirit  Gounod  said  to  his  pupils, 
"  Be  wider  than  your  calling."  And  con- 
sistently with  this  advice  he  contended  for 
the    maintenance    of   the    Grand    Prix    de 


^6  Lectures  on  Preaching        lect. 

Rome.  When  the  opponents  argued  that  the 
students  who  were  sent  to  Rome  did  not  get 
musical  training  in  Rome,  Gounod  pleaded 
in  reply  that  the  Prize  was  good  and  useful 
inasmuch  as  men  gained  by  the  associations 
of  the  past ;  they  caught  inspiring  thoughts 
and  feelings  from  the  masterpieces  of  great 
artists.  These  things  were  helps,  though 
not  directly  allied  with  musical  training  ; 
for  art  was  more  than  technical  skill  in 
one  branch  ;  it  was  a  spirit  belonging  to  all. 
Gounod's  practice  corresponded  with  his 
theory.  He  surrounded  himself  with  helps 
and  influences  from  other  avenues  of  life 
than  his  own.  His  library  embraced  books 
on  many  and  varied  subjects.  Medallions 
bearing  the  names  of  great  men  decorated 
his  staircase.  Raphael,  Mozart,  Beethoven, 
Michael  Angelo,  Bach,  Rubens,  Rembrandt, 
Dante,  Homer,  Shakespeare,  Cervantes, 
Corneille,   and   Moliere,  were   there.     He 


II  Lectures  on  Preaching  57 

knew  that  to  be  efficient  in  your  calling 
you  must  be  wider  than  your  calling. 
Bulwer  Lytton  in  My  Novel  expressed 
the  same  thought.  He  says  of  the  young 
poet  :  "  He  read  what  poets  must  read  if 
they  desire  to  be  great — strict  reasonings 
on  the  relations  between  motive  and 
conduct,  thought  and  action  ;  the  grave 
and  solemn  truths  of  the  past  world ; 
antiquities,  history,  philosophy." 

Those  who  were  privileged  to  enter 
Tennyson's  study  will  remember  that  walls 
and  bookshelves  preached  the  same  lesson 
— Be  wider  than  your  calling.  The  poets 
were  there,  but  philosophy,  theology, 
history,  found  place  beside  the  masters 
of  song,  and  the  poet  lived  among  them 
all  and  found  strength  in  their  com- 
panionship. So,  I  repeat  it  again,  if  you 
wish  to  preserve  strength  and  freshness, 
if  you    wish    to    be    able    to    make    your 


58  Lectures  on  Preaching         lect. 

message      clear,     be     wider      than      your 
calling. 

But  here  I  can  imagine  a  feeling  of 
hesitation  arising.  Ought  we  not  to  limit 
our  studies  to  our  calling  ^  Does  not  the 
Ordination  Service  bind  us  to  limit  our 
studies  to  matters  of  faith  ^  Are  we  not 
bound  to  draw  all  our  studies  this  way  ? 
It  is  perfectly  true  that  as  we  are  guardians 
of  spiritual  things,  so  to  these  should  be 
dedicated  our  thoughts  and  lives.  But  the 
drawing  of  our  studies  this  way  implies 
not  limitation  of  study  so  much  as  con- 
secration of  it.  The  consecrated  life  is 
the  life  which  is  lived  in  the  realisation  of 
the  sacred  purpose  of  life.  All  studies  may 
be  turned  to  consecrated  uses  bv  one  who 
shall  so  resolve.  Just  as  the  poet  and 
musician  make  all  their  studies  subservient 
to  the  one  supreme  purpose  of  life,  so 
the  clergyman  should  draw  all  studies  into 


II  Lectures  on  Preaching  59 

sacred  uses.  He  is  not  a  consecrated  man 
merely  because  he  confines  his  reading  to 
certain  books.  He  is  a  consecrated  man 
whose  whole  heart  and  mind  are  alive  to 
the  needs  of  men  and  to  the  message  of 
God  for  men — whose  reading  ranges  every- 
where, that  he  may  know  more  of  human 
need  and  of  divine  strength.  No  doubt, 
practically,  we  must  put  limits  on  our 
studies  —  time  and  mental  aptitude  and 
personal  limitations  will  compel  this — but 
the  wise  and  earnest  man,  who  can  keep 
the  sense  of  his  consecration  always  before 
his  mind,  will  neglect  no  study  which  tends 
to  make  him  stronger  and  more  efficient  in 
his  influence  and  ministry. 

If  then  our  consecration  is  to  be  real, 
it  should  be  the  consecration  of  all  our 
powers  ;  none  of  those  powers  and  faculties 
which  God  has  given  us  should  be  suffered 
to  wither  or  decline.      We   ought  not  to 


6o  Lectures  on  ^reaching        lect. 

be  one-sided  men.  The  cultivation  of  all 
our  intellectual  endowments  should  be  our 
aim.  Reason,  knowledge,  imagination, 
affection,  should  be  trained  into  strength 
and  use. 

I.  You  must  cultivate  your  powers  of 
reason.  It  is  important  that  you  should 
remember  that  sound  reasoning  is  indis- 
pensable in  your  calling.  We  can  never 
be  too  careful  in  this  matter.  We  are  so 
easily  carried  away  by  impulse,  bias,  pre- 
judice. We  need,  in  self-protection  against 
these  traitors  to  thought,  to  exercise  con- 
stantly, so  that  we  may  gain  the  power 
of  using  habitually,  our  reasoning  faculty. 
We  need  in  our  studies,  in  our  pulpit 
preparation,  in  our  meditation,  the  help  of 
what  Bacon  called  the  dry  light  of  reason. 
Then  thought  is  dispassionate ;  personal 
feeling  and  diverting  emotions  are  kept 
far  away  ;    reason  is  doing  its  work.     If 


II  Lectures  on  F reaching  6i 

we  fail  in  cultivating  this  habit  we  shall 
sooner  or  later  be  the  victims  of  our 
whims,  passions,  transient  emotions,  or 
fixed  prejudices.  In  order  that  you  may 
cultivate  your  powers  of  reason,  it  is  well 
to  have  always  on  hand  some  book  that 
compels  you  to  think,  A  schoolmaster  of 
mine  used  to  say  that  if  he  were  shut  up 
in  prison  with  the  choice  of  only  four 
books,  he  would  choose  the  Bible,  Euclid, 
Plato,  and  Shakespeare.  Now,  gentlemen, 
you  are  not,  I  hope,  literalists :  I  hope  you 
never  will  be.  A  literalist  is  one  who 
understands  not  the  spirit  of  a  matter ;  he 
discerns  not  an  allegory;  he  is  puzzled  by 
a  fable ;  he  argues  about  a  joke,  and 
poetry  is  far  out  of  his  sight.  I  hope 
that  you  are  not  such,  and  that  you  will 
not  insist  on  interpreting  this  little  list  of 
books  too  literally.  The  value  of  the 
suggestion  lies  in  the  fact  that  these  books 


62  Lectures  on  Preaching         lect. 

touch  four  great  powers  of  man.  In 
Euclid  you  must  exercise  the  dry  Hght  of 
reason.  In  the  study  of  the  other  books, 
other  powers  are  brought  into  exercise. 
Euclid  stands,  therefore,  for  any  book 
which  compels  calm,  sustained,  and  con- 
centrated thought.  There  is  no  philo- 
sophical prejudice  or  theological  bias  about 
Euclid.  He  makes  you  keep  to  the 
point :  he  allows  no  room  for  likes  and 
dislikes.  Best  of  all,  he  will  not  let  you 
off.  If  your  wit  wanders,  he  compels  you 
to  begin  again.  Books  which  do  this  for 
the  mind  are  wholesome  ;  and  I  would 
counsel  you  never  to  be  without  such  a 
book  for  study.  It  is  no  matter,  in  one 
sense,  what  book  it  is,  so  long  as  it  is  a 
book  which  reminds  you  that  logic  is  a 
good  thing,  and  that  the  laws  of  thought 
count  for  something  in  human  life.  Such 
studies  brace  up  the  mind.     For  my  own 


II  Lectures  on  Preaching  61, 

part,  I  think  that  if  they  did  nothing  else 
in  this  direction,  clergymen  would  not  be 
the  worse  for  tackling  occasionally  a  good 
stiff  mathematical  problem,  or  trying  their 
hand  at  some  recent  examination  paper  in 
logic  or  science. 

2.  Study  what  will  enlarge  your  range  of 
knowledge — keep  up  what  I  may  describe 
as  your  fund  of  information.  Read  what 
will  widen  your  acquaintance  with  philo- 
sophy, history,  scientific  discovery.  The 
exercise  of  reason  is  good.  The  acquisition 
of  knowledge  opens  up  to  us  fields  over 
which  thought  and  reason  can  range — 
material  is  stored  up  which  will  be  of 
service  in  your  various  duties.  The  lecture, 
the  address,  the  young  men's  class,  will  be 
the  gainers  ;  you  will  have  a  mind  ready 
with  some  subject,  or  furnished  with  facts, 
incidents,  and  examples. 

3.  Do  not  leave  the  imagination  unfed. 


64  Lectures  on  ^reaching         lect. 

Arguments,  as  Fuller  said,  are  the  pillars  of 
a  discourse  ;  illustrations  are  the  windows 
which  let  in  the  light.  Imagination, 
no  less  than  reason,  is  God's  gift.  It 
is  the  power  by  which  dulness  or  bald- 
ness is  avoided.  Now,  imagination  is 
lacking  in  some  men  ;  it  is  exuberant  in 
others.  If  a  man  has  no  gift  of  imagina- 
tion, he  is  just  the  man  to  cultivate  it.  If 
he  says  that  he  has  not  a  particle  of 
imagination,  and  that  therefore  there  is 
nothing  to  cultivate,  I  venture  to  disbelieve 
him.  He  has  only  to  recall  his  infant 
days,  his  delight  in  giant  story  or  fairy 
tale,  or  his  own  day-dreaming,  and  he  will 
find  that  there  is  some  germ  of  imagination 
in  him.  But  should  he  fail,  and  find  no 
interest  in  poetry,  or  parable,  or  romance, 
or  allegory,  or  in  the  arts  that  shed  a 
beauty  upon  life,  he  had  better  abandon  all 
thought  of  standing  up  to  speak  in  pulpit 


II  Lectures  on  Preaching  6^ 

or  on  platform.  But  if  imagination  be 
strong  in  a  man,  then  again  he  is  just  the 
man  to  cultivate  it,  by  the  study  of  grave 
and  noble  examples ;  for  these  will  teach 
how  imagination  is  a  power  only  in  the 
hands  of  men  who  possess  also  a  large 
reasonableness.  Cultivation  in  this  case 
will  chasten  and  purify  the  native  power 
and  increase  its  effectiveness  and  use.  For 
the  preacher  this  restrained  imagination  is 
useful.  Many  a  sermon  would  have  gained 
in  brightness  and  interest  if  only  the 
preacher  had  put  in  some  windows.  In 
healthy  schools  the  window  space  should 
be  equal  to  the  floor  space.  In  Germany, 
since  more  light  has  been  allowed  in  the 
schools,  short  sight  has  declined.  Culti- 
vated imagination  puts  window  space  into 
a  sermon,  and  the  perceptive  power  of 
the  people  is  improved. 

But    cultivate    imagination    in    a    wise 


66  Lectures  on  Preaching         lect. 

fashion.  In  some  clergymen's  studies  I 
have  noticed  a  certain  book.  It  is  very 
thick  ;  it  is  in  truth  a  bulky  volume.  I 
know  not  how  many  pages  there  may  be, 
but  they  must  run  to  a  thousand  or  more. 
The  title  is  Illustrative  Anecdotes,  Pulpit 
Aids,  or  Fragments  of  Fancy.  These  are 
crutches  of  the  imagination.  They  may 
suit  the  lame,  but  they  do  not  strengthen 
those  who  can  walk.  A  man's  imagina- 
tion should  be  somewhere  else  than  on  his 
book-shelves.  What  I  plead  for  is  the 
study  which  will  keep  the  imagination 
fresh,  ready,  and  vigorous.  It  should  be 
no  reproach  to  the  Christian  minister  that 
he  desires  to  teach  through  the  imagina- 
tion. Our  Lord  used  imagination  in 
teaching ;  He  spoke  by  parables,  and  in 
speaking  by  parable  He  appealed  to  the 
responsive  imaginations  of  men.  He  strove 
to  make  nature  and  home -life  preach  to 


II  Lectures  on  Preaching  67 

men.  He  would  have  the  grass  and 
the  lily  tell  their  story.  He  sought  to 
make  men  imagine,  through  some  earthly 
story,  the  depth,  the  fulness,  and  the  un- 
weariedness  of  the  divine  love.  He  knew 
that  thus  there  was  a  way  to  human  hearts. 
He  knew  that  the  power  to  tell  a  simple 
tale  might  be  greater  than  the  power  to 
conduct  an  argument.  He  used  simili- 
tudes. He  consecrated  for  us  the  use  of 
imagination.  We  need  not  fear  to  use  it. 
When  you  would  make  a  thing  clear  to  a 
child,  you  take  up  the  little  one  on  your 
knee  and  you  tell  him  a  story,  calling 
fancy  to  your  aid  to  make  it  plain.  And 
among  your  people  there  will  be  plenty  of 
those  children  of  a  larger  growth  whom 
you  may  reach  best  through  the  imagina- 
tion which  stirs  the  heart.  Use  reason, 
by  all  means  ;  but,  remember,  not  reason 
alone  has  won  victories  in   the   past   over 


68  Lectures  on  Preaching         lect. 

the  spirits  of  men.  Reason  is  strong,  but 
not  so  strong  that  she  can  afford  to  dis- 
dain imagination  as  her  comrade.  Reason 
can  but  walk.  Imagination  gives  her  wings. 
With  these  she  may  reach  those  high  places 
and  rocky  spots  where  the  spirits  of  men  take 
refuge  from  pursuit  of  disagreeable  truths. 
One  more  faculty  needs  to  be  cultivated 
— the  faculty  of  devotion.  I  have  counselled 
the  study  of  a  reason -bracing  book,  like 
Euclid,  for  the  sake  of  the  intellect  ; 
Shakespeare  might  well  be  your  companion 
for  the  sake  of  the  imagination  ;  but,  in 
these  cases,  your  selection  of  suitable  books 
must  be  left  to  yourselves.  When,  how- 
ever, I  come  to  the  necessity  of  maintain- 
ing the  power  of  spiritual  affection  and 
sincere  devotion,  I  speak  of  the  Bible,  not 
merely  as  a  type,  but  as  the  one  book 
which  should  be  your  supreme  guide  and 
constant  companion,      I  need  not  remind 


II  Lectures  on  Preaching  69 

you  of  the  unique  homage  of  reverent 
faith  which  our  own  Church  pays  to  the 
Bible.  You  have  only  to  turn  to  the 
Ordination  Service  to  find  how  strong  and 
worshipful  is  this  faith.  You  cannot  com- 
pass the  doing  of  the  weighty  work  of 
your  ministry  "  but  with  doctrine  and  ex- 
hortation taken  out  of  the  Holy  Scriptures, 
and  with  a  life  agreeable  to  the  same  "  ; 
and  therefore  you  are  to  "  consider  how 
studious  you  ought  to  be  in  reading  and 
learning  the  Scriptures,  and  in  framing  the 
manners  both  of  yourselves  and  of  them 
that  specially  pertain  unto  you,  according 
to  the  rule  of  the  same  Scriptures."  The 
promise  which  the  candidate  makes  is  that 
he  will  out  of  the  Scriptures  instruct  the 
people  committed  to  his  charge.  At  this 
solemn  hour  of  life  the  Bible  is  spoken  of 
as  the  source  of  help  and  the  basis  of 
instruction.     For  the  clergyman,  therefore, 


70  Lectures  on  Preaching        lect. 

there  ought  to  be  and  there  can  be  no 
choice  in  this  matter.  He  is  pledged  to 
be  a  dihgent  student  of  the  Bible.  And 
this  not  merely  for  the  sake  of  his  sermons, 
but  for  the  sake  of  himself.  There  are 
many  manuals  of  devotion,  little  volumes 
designed  to  stimulate  our  spiritual  affec- 
tions or  raise  our  flagging  faith.  They 
are  well  meant,  and  there  may  be  times 
in  which  they  may  be  read  with  profit, 
but  they  are  of  doubtful  value  at  the  best ; 
and  if  they  are  used  as  substitutes  for  Bible 
study,  they  are  worse  than  useless  :  they 
are  leading  the  clergyman  to  the  betrayal 
of  his  spoken  promise.  They  are  but 
sorry  substitutes,  moreover,  —  all  that  is 
best  in  them  is  drawn  from  the  Bible  ; 
and  there  is  often  in  them  a  strain  of 
unreality.  I  am  persuaded  that  the  truest, 
healthiest,  and  most  robust  devotional  life 
is  that  which  is  built  up  of  patient,  regular, 


II  Lectures  on  Preaching  71 

prayerful  Bible  study.  I  need  not  remind 
you  that  in  our  own  time  the  incentives  to 
this  study  are  great  indeed.  Questions  of 
criticism,  of  history  and  archaeology,  have 
been  discussed.  On  all  sides  there  are 
reasons  for  special  thought ;  from  all  sides 
light  is  streaming  upon  us  if  we  will  only 
have  the  eyes  to  see.  And  if  these  very 
questions  should  fill  us  with  dismay  at  the 
task  before  us,  and  make  the  study  of  the 
Bible  seem  more  laborious  than  before,  we 
may  yet  remember  that  none  of  these 
questions  practically  touch  the  spiritual 
teaching  of  the  Bible,  or  have  had  power 
to  dethrone  the  Bible  from  its  place  as  the 
greatest,  purest,  deepest,  and  truest  book  of 
devotion  in  the  world. 

The  scheme  which  I  have  sketched  out 
embraces  the  cultivation  of  all  your  powers 
of  reason,  knowledge,  imagination,  and  de- 
votion.    If  you  are  to  be  true  teachers  and 


72  Lectures  on  Preaching        lect. 

true  guides  of  your  people,  you  will  neglect 
none  of  these.  All  the  past  teaches  us  that 
those  have  best  taught  the  world  who  have 
best  taught  themselves.  The  apparent  ease 
with  which  a  skilful  man  does  his  work 
tends,  however,  to  deceive  us.  It  seems  so 
easy  that  we  imagine  it  can  easily  be  done. 
But  this  is  a  deception  which  reflection 
will  dissipate.  The  steamship  glides  past 
us  as  we  watch  it  from  the  shore.  She 
glides  over  the  waters  like  a  thing  of  life. 
Her  movemf^nt  appears  to  us  easy  and 
noiseless  ;  but  when  we  take  our  place  on 
board  we  know  what  effbrt,  what  expend- 
iture of  thought,  labour,  and  fuel  has 
secured  this  swift  and  graceful  movement. 
To  the  idler  on  the  shore  the  thing  is  easy. 
To  the  men  on  board  it  means  real  and 
ceaseless  work.  Can  we  expect  that  we 
can  do  any  profitable  work  without  labour.? 
If  we  desire  to  reach  skill  and  power,  we 


II  Lectures  on  Preaching  73 

must  be  prepared  to  pay  the  price,  and 
that  price  is  zealous,  sedulous,  constant 
self-cultivation.  Every  preacher  will  tell 
you  the  same.  Their  sermons,  which  seem 
as  we  listen  to  them  to  be  so  natural  and 
inevitable,  are  the  outcome  of  much  read- 
ing and  thought.  Whether  the  individual 
sermon  has  cost  more  or  less,  the  price  has 
been  paid  in  general  labour  and  constant 
study  beforehand.  At  the  gate  of  life 
stand  two  angels.  One  promises  you 
success  in  life  without  exertion,  the  other 
offers  you  the  prize  if  you  work  for  it. 
You  can  take  your  choice.  You  may  win 
a  cheap,  rapid,  and  easy  success  by  lax 
methods  and  smart -mindedness  ;  but  if 
you  desire  the  true  prize,  you  will  only 
find  it  in  the  way  of  labour.  But  even 
here  I  do  not  mean  the  prize  of  success 
or  the  applause  which  follows  a  great 
preacher.     I  put  before  you  no  such  aim. 


74  Lectures  on  Preaching    lect.  ii 

There  is  a  better  :  it  is  the  simple  desire  to 
be  a  sincere  and  effective  minister  of  Christ. 
With  such  an  aim  you  will  think  no  toil 
too  great,  no  demand  on  your  time  too 
burdensome,  if  only  you  can  do  true  work 
and  lay  it  as  an  offering  at  the  feet  of  Him 
who  laboured  and  toiled  and  bled  for  you. 
With  such  a  spirit  you  will  not  offer 
what  costs  you  nothing  ;  but  you  will, 
•  while  the  vigour  of  life  is  still  yours,  and 

before  the  day  comes  when  age  makes 
work  difficult  and  new  habits  impossible, 
establish  good  habits  of  self-cultivation. 
You  will  continue  these  through  life. 
You  will  never  give  up  thinking,  reading, 
and  studying.  The  more  you  reverence 
your  life,  your  calling,  and  Him  who 
orders  your  life  and  gives  you  your  call- 
ing, the  more  earnestly  will  you  cultivate 
every  capacity  and  every  gift  that  can  be 
drawn  into  the  service  of  Christ  your  Lord. 


LECTURE   III 

The  subject  of  my  lecture  is  the  Sermon. 

The  first  qualification  for  writing  a 
sermon  is,  that  you  should  have  some- 
thing to  say.  No  man  can  carve  a  statue 
until  he  has  the  stone  ready  ;  no  man  can 
mould  a  figure  till  he  has  the  clay  ;  and 
no  man  should  imagine  that  he  can  write 
his  sermon  till  he  has  something  to  say. 
You  will  not  wonder  that  I  reiterate  this, 
because  many  a  man  sits  down  in  his  study 
on  a  Saturday  to  write  his  Sunday's  sermon 
and  finds  himself  the  victim  of  blank 
despair,  and  racks  his  brain  with  anxiety 
because  he  is  conscious  that  he  has  nothing 


76  Lectures  on  Preaching        lect. 

to  say.  Now  an  authority  tells  us  that 
whenever  a  preacher  finds  he  has  nothing 
to  say,  he  may  be  sure  that  the  fault  lies 
in  himself.  We  must  certainly  agree  with 
him  ;  for  if  there  is  anything  great  and 
glorious  in  Christianity,  it  is  extraordinary 
that  any  man  charged  to  preach  it  should 
find  himself  with  nothing  to  say. 

I  might  enlarge  on  the  sadness  of  this 
discovery.  It  is  enough  to  say  that  such 
a  discovery  should  be  an  incentive  to  self- 
questioning  :  we  must  take  ourselves  to 
task,  and  ask  ourselves  why  it  is  so.  Has 
our  early  fervour  abated.^  Has  our 
perception  of  divine  things  grown  dim.? 
Have  we  been  neglectful  of  study  ^  Have 
we  laid  aside  the  culture  of  spiritual  life 
which  is  indispensable  to  the  vigour  and 
force  of  our  religious  conceptions .?  Ques- 
tions such  as  these  we  may  well  ask,  when 
our  spirits  find  no  message  of  God  for  our 


Ill  Lectures  on  Preaching  77 

people.  But  consciousness  of  mental 
barrenness  is  not  always  a  symptom  of 
spiritual  decline.  Physical  and  nervous 
conditions  play  some  part  in  these  experi- 
ences. In  certain  states  of  health,  the  very 
fact  that  you  have  to  say  something  operates 
as  a  kind  of  paralysis  on  thought.  The  re- 
currence of  this  necessity,  week  after  week, 
in  the  midst  of  many  calls  on  time,  mind, 
and  sympathy,  may  occasion  intellectual 
numbness,  and  make  creative  work  difficult. 
This  condition  is  not  wholly  caused  by 
decline  in  the  spiritual  life. 

Do  not  be  dismayed  or  daunted  because 
you  experience  such  a  thing  as  that.  Take 
yourself  to  task,  by  all  means.  Be 
vigilant  against  yourself;  but  do  not 
conclude  that  you  are  in  a  hopeless  con- 
dition— many  a  man  of  God  has  met  with 
similar  experiences. 

Yes,    your   very   zeal    may    lead    you 


yS  Lectures  on  Preaching         lect. 

into  this  land  of  bitter  experience.  Some 
have  entered  upon  the  work  of  ministry- 
full  of  enthusiasm.  Have  they  not  the 
gospel  to  preach?  Can  they  ever  weary 
of  this  glorious  message?  But  they  have 
wearied,  for  they  have  found  that  the 
work  of  a  stated  ministry  involves  more 
responsibility  and  close  study  than  the 
work  of  casual  and  peripatetic  evangelism. 
They  have  discovered  that  the  wonderful 
evangelistic  fervour  which  carried  them 
through  occasional  or  special  mission  efforts, 
is  not  always  stable  enough  to  make  them 
useful  and  efficient  teachers  of  Christ  in 
a  parish.  Thus  our  very  ardour  may  mis- 
lead us,  and  cause  us  to  feel  an  incapacity 
or  unfitness  for  regular  ministry.  For 
parochial  zeal  we  need  much  "staying" 
power. 

For    this    purpose    a    man    must    have 
material   at    command.       It    is   better   to 


Ill  Lectures  on  breaching  79 

realise  this  necessity,  even  though  it  should 
lead  you  to  discover  how  small  your  stock 
of  material  is,  than  that  you  should  indulge 
in  indolent  self-complacency,  and  should 
attempt  to  spin  something  out  of  nothing. 
It  is  hardly  a  satisfactory  criticism  of  a 
preacher  which  declares  he  had  nothing  to 
say,  and  he  said  it.  We  have  all  heard 
sermons  which  have  made  us  feel  sad, 
because  they  were  so  evidently  the  attempt 
to  say  something  which  had  not  been 
settled  beforehand.  Such  efforts  can  hardly 
be  successful.  There  is  a  dull  uninteresting 
game  which  in  certain  households  we  are 
asked  to  play.  The  game  is  called  Fish- 
ponds. The  process  is  something  of  this 
sort.  You  attempt  by  means  of  something 
which  is  not  a  fishing-rod  to  pick  up  some- 
thing which  is  not  a  fish.  Now  I  have 
never  seen  that  game  played  without  being 
irresistibly  reminded  of  the  preacher  who  has 


8o  Lectures  on  Preaching         lect. 

not  anything  to  say.  As  in  the  game  you 
drop  down  that  which  is  not  a  fishing-rod 
to  pick  up  what  is  not  a  fish,  so  the  preacher 
preaches  a  discourse  which  is  not  a  sermon, 
but  in  which  the  sermon  seems  always  about 
to  begin.  There  is  a  vain  attempt  to  pick 
up  something  which,  when  he  has  got  it, 
is  not  worth  anything.  I  would  rather 
that  blank  despair  settled  upon  your 
spirits  and  miserable  anxiety  should  keep 
you  from  sleeping  all  the  nights  of  the 
week,  than  that  you  should  attempt  to 
do  such  a  thing  as  that.  You  must  have 
something  to  say  ;  and  you  must  make  up 
your  mind  how  to  say  it.  In  other  words, 
you  must  first  get  your  material,  and  then 
put  it  into  form. 

First,  get  your  material.  You  will 
not  find  in  handbooks  on  oratory 
many  suggestions  respecting  the  method 
by    which    to    accumulate    material.     But 


Ill  Lectures  on  Preaching  8 1 

there  is  one  simple  method.  If  I  may 
borrow  the  example,  consecrated  by  usage 
for  many  generations,  I  would  bid  you 
remember  the  three  Rs,  which  lie  at  the 
root  of  all  true  knowledge,  the  same,  with 
one  exception,  as  those  with  which  we  are 
familiar.  The  three  Rs  I  would  suggest 
are.  Reflection,  Reading,  and  (the  precedent 
warrants  the  inaccuracy)  Writing. 

First,  Reflection.  You  remember  the 
appeal  of  Demosthenes,  which  we  may  repeat 
and  need  to  repeat  often  :  "  For  God's  sake, 
gentlemen,  I  beseech  you  to  think."  Richter 
gave  us  a  parallel  but  more  complete  precept, 
because  he  insisted  on  the  order  of  these 
three  needful  processes.  He  says  :  "  Never 
read  till  you  have  thought  yourself  hungry  ; 
never  write  till  you  have  read  yourself  full." 
There  are  but  few  people  willing  to  keep  the 
first  half  of  this  precept,  though  many  may 
be  willing  to  keep  the  second.     They  are 

G 


82  Lectures  on  Preaching         lect. 

willing  to  rush  to  their  books  in  order  to 
be  ready  to  write  ;  but  they  are  not  willing 
to  deal  with  the  preliminary  drudgery  of 
patient  thought  upon  their  subject.  Yet  it  is 
indispensable  that  before  we  write  we  should 
think.  The  precept  does  not  mean  that 
we  must  do  all  our  thinking  before  we 
read  —  that  is  impossible ;  but  it  does 
mean  that  reading  without  previous  thought 
is  apt  to  be  profitless.  To  use  a  simple 
illustration,  it  is  like  sitting  down  to  a  meal 
before  we  hsve  got  an  appetite.  Thought 
is  as  important  to  the  mind  as  exercise  to 
the  body.  Both  give  appetite  ;  the  hunger 
comes  from  exertion.  We  hunger  to  know, 
because  we  have  thought.  We  are  then 
guided  by  a  healthy  wish  for  information  ; 
our  reading  becomes  intelligent ;  we  know 
what  we  want.  Time  is  saved,  and  we  are 
the  better  able  to  digest  what  we  have 
studied. 


Ill  Lectures  on  Preaching  83 

There  is  also  a  moral  argument  on  behalf 
of  this  precept,  to  reflect  before  we  read. 
It  is  easy  to  go  to  our  books,  and  it 
is  true  that  from  them  we  may  gather 
material,  but  it  is  material  very  difficult  to 
digest.  The  chances  are  that  we  shall 
utilise  such  material  without  much  reflec- 
tion. We  shall  not  assimilate  it,  and 
make  it  our  own.  But  to  have  thought 
beforehand  is  to  make  our  whole  nature 
ready  for  work  ;  it  is  to  promote  a  kind 
of  mental  integrity  with  regard  to  the 
material  employed.  We  shall  have  put 
our  own  mind  and  our  own  endeavour 
into  our  work.  There  is  more  satisfac- 
tion because  there  is  more  honesty  in  such 
work — we  are  thinking  and  working  out 
our  subject,  we  are  not  merely  looking 
for  something  to  say. 

Therefore,  for  the  sake  of  mind  and  of 
moral  vigour,  do  not  get  into  the  habit  of 


84  Lectures  on  Preaching        lect. 

ransacking  on  Saturday  all  the  books  which 
are  likely  to  give  you  suggestions  for  the 
Sunday  sermon.  Be  wise  and  thoughtful 
beforehand.  Have  your  subjects  well  in 
hand.  Think  them  out.  Find  out  where 
you  need  information.  Note  what  lines  of 
thought  are  involved.  Observe  your  own 
deficiencies  in  such  subjects  or  directions  of 
thought.  Thus,  by  reflection,  make  ready 
for  study. 

Secondly,  Reading.  In  my  last  lecture  I 
spoke  of  reading  as  it  afl^ected  the  general 
course  of  a  clergyman's  life;  now  I  am 
to  speak  of  it  in  relation  to  the  sermon 
itself.  For  besides  general  reading  you 
will  need  some  special  study  for  your 
sermons.  You  will  need  to  study  whatever 
will  serve  to  elucidate  and  illustrate  the 
subject.  But  even  here,  do  not  be  content 
with  merely  reading  for  that  special  subject. 
Take  care  to  read  more  than  you  require. 


Ill  Lectures  on  Preaching  85 

Dr.  Fitch  tells  us  in  his  book  on  Educa- 
tion that  "  no  person  can  adequately 
teach  any  subject  unless  he  knows  more 
than  the  points  he  is  prepared  to  put  for- 
ward." I  remember  a  description  once 
given  me  of  a  clergyman.  It  was  said  of 
his  sermons  that  he  always  worked  himself 
up  to  his  subject.  But  this  is  not  the  best 
plan.  It  is  better  that  a  man  should  go 
down  to  his  subject.  To  seem  to  work  up 
to  it  is  to  give  the  impression  of  strain  and 
effort.  To  descend  upon  your  subject  is 
to  act  with  the  confidence  of  mastery.  In 
the  one  case  a  man  seems  to  be  putting 
things  into  his  sermon  in  order  to  bring  it 
up  to  average  length  ;  in  the  other  case, 
the  preacher  has  selected  from  his  treasury 
of  study  that  which  will  best  make  clear 
his  subject.  The  preacher  is  like  a  general 
who  takes  up  a  position  with  the  intention 
of  fighting    a    battle ;     but    as    the    wise 


86  Lectures  on  Preaching        lect. 

general  is  one  who  makes  himself  well 
acquainted,  not  with  his  camp-surroundings 
only,  but  with  the  whole  geography  of  the 
neighbourhood,  so  is  the  wise  preacher  one 
who  knows  not  only  his  subject,  but  the 
bearing  of  it  on  kindred  questions  and 
interests.  He  should  know  not  only  the 
ideas  he  wishes  to  put  before  his  people, 
but  also  the  facts  which  justify  his  doing 
so,  and  their  general  significance  in  relation 
to  other  realms  of  thought.  Such  a  man 
has  climbed  above  his  subject,  and  can 
descend  upon  it  with  a  feeling  of  confidence 
and  power.  Survey  your  subject  from  the 
heights  of  wide  and  careful  study.  Read 
more  than  is  required  for  the  immediate 
occasion.  This  gives  the  sense  of  security, 
which  only  conscientious  work  can  provide. 
It  will  save  you  from  the  sense  of  shame 
which  an  ill -prepared  or  hastily -worked 
sermon  may  bring.     There  may  be  among 


Ill  Lectures  on  Preaching  87 

your  hearers  those  who  have  studied  much. 
The  knowledge  of  their  presence,  when 
you  are  conscious  of  haste  and  slovenUness, 
will  fill  you  with  misgiving.  Your  faith 
in  your  message  will  suffer  as  you  speak, 
for  you  will  be  conscious  how  easily  some 
auditor  can,  with  his  powers  of  criticism 
and  knowledge,  show  how  threadbare  are 
your  little  rags  of  thought.  Daniel  Wilson, 
when  preaching  in  Bedford  Chapel,  was 
asked,  *'  Are  you  not  afraid  when  you  see 
so  many  learned  and  distinguished  people 
in  your  congregation  .?  "  He  said,  "  No, 
I  am  not  ;  though  I  know  that  many  are 
my  superiors  in  general  knowledge  and  in 
Bible  scholarship,  yet  I  am  sure  that  none 
of  them  has  studied  the  particular  subject 
of  my  sermon  more  diligently  than  I  have." 
This  is  one  secret  of  confidence — study. 
Leave  no  stone  unturned  beneath  which 
fact  or  knowledge  may  lurk.     Reflect  and 


88  Lectures  on  Preaching         lect. 

read  that  you  may  be  fully  persuaded  of 
the  meaning  and  truth  of  what  you  say. 

It  is  in  meditation  and  study  that  zeal 
will  awaken.  What  we  gather  heedlessly, 
and  treat  without  reverence,  will  never 
awaken  our  interest  or  stir  our  ardour.  It 
was  while  the  Psalmist  was  "  musing  that 
the  fire  kindled."  The  fire  of  ambition 
to  do  worthy  work  kindles  as  we  think 
and  read  of  matters  which  touch  human 
life.  But  a  purer  fire  than  that  of  the 
purest  human  ambition  may  kindle  as  we 
meditate,  study,  and  pray.  God's  own 
fire  from  heaven  will  descend  upon  our 
hearts.  It  was  when  the  prophet  had 
built  his  altar,  prepared  the  wood,  and 
laid  his  sacrifice  in  order,  that  the  fire 
from  heaven  descended  in  answer  to  his 
prayer.  God  helps  those  who  help  them- 
selves. To  those  who  use  all  diligence 
and  neglect  no  means  of  success,  He  gives 


in  Lectures  on  Treadling  89 

His  aid.  His  inspiration  descends  not 
upon  the  careless  and  the  idle  ;  but  to 
those  who  wait  on  Him  and  work  He 
comes  in  power,  and  gives  them  that 
kindling  spirit  which  consumes  foolish 
egotism  and  base  timidity,  and  glows 
within  them  with  the  pure  love  of  doing 
good. 

Thirdly,  Writing.  I  am  not  now 
referring  to  written  sermons  in  con- 
trast to  what  are  called  extemporaneous 
sermons.  I  am  speaking  of  writing  as  a 
part  of  preparation,  whether  you  speak  or 
read  your  sermon.  In  either  case  use  your 
pen.  It  is  a  foolish  and  dull  mistake  to 
suppose  that  the  extemporaneous  preacher 
forgoes  the  use  of  his  pen.  The  idea  is 
next  to  a  myth.  I  think  that  though  you 
were  to  give  me  examples  of  such  a  practice, 
you  would  only  give  me  examples  of  in- 
efficient preaching.     No  man  can  afford  to 


90  Lectures  on  F reaching        lect. 

do  without  his  pen.  It  is  no  doubt  true 
that  a  man  after  thirty  or  forty  years' 
experience  of  preaching  may  use  his  pen 
comparatively  little  in  his  preparation  ; 
but  his  power  to  forgo  the  use  of  the 
pen  is  due  to  the  accumulated  force  of 
those  thirty  or  forty  years  of  hard  pen 
work.  It  may  be  taken  as  a  standing  rule 
that  no  man  can  afford  to  do  without  his 
pen  in  the  modelling  of  his  sermons. 
Cicero  said,  "The  best  master  of  the 
orator  is  his  pen,"  and  Cicero  will  be  allowed 
to  be  a  good  authority  in  such  matters. 
If  you  are  going  to  deliver  your  sermon 
extemporaneously,  still  write,  write  much. 
Be  diligent  in  the  use  of  your  pen. 

A  very  able  writer  has  said  that  there 
are  two  ways  in  which  the  written  sermon 
may  be  prepared.  The  first  is,  by  writing 
down  the  outlines  of  the  subject,  and  then 
re-writing  it  when  you  have  made  up  your 


Ill  Lectures  on  Preaching  91 

mind  as  to  which  is  the  best  form.  This 
is  what  may  be  described  as  finding  your 
way  with  your  pen  to  the  order  of  treat- 
ment. The  other  way  is  by  determining 
that  the  first  time  you  write,  the  form 
shall  be  as  complete  as  possible.  I  think, 
that  this  second  way  is  mistaken,  and  that 
the  attempt  to  make  your  work  complete 
at  the  start  will  only  end  in  failure. 
Whatever  you  may  be  able  to  do  after 
years  of  practice  I  know  not,  but  I  think 
you  will  find  it  well  to  work  off  the  froth 
with  your  pen.  It  is  by  thinking  with 
your  pen  that  you  will  find  your  way  to 
the  heart  of  your  subject.  Most  of  our 
minds  are  like  some  of  those  bottles  of  wine 
which  come  from  abroad  ;  you  have  to  pour 
off  the  ullage  before  you  can  reach  the  wine. 
You  may  need  to  write  off  your  first  and 
crude  enthusiasm.  I  am  not  sure  that  in 
the  matter  of  preaching   second  thoughts 


92  Lectures  on  Preaching        lect. 

are  not  better  than  first,  and  the  third  the 
best  of  all. 

You  will  find  that  this  is  what  will 
happen.  You  will  choose  your  text. 
There  will  have  dawned  on  you  the  first 
conception  of  its  meaning.  Your  mind 
will  be  full,  perhaps,  of  the  novelty  or 
the  attractiveness  of  your  first  thoughts. 
Write  them  down  by  all  means,  but  depend 
upon  it  you  are  not  going  to  use  them  as 
they  are.  For  let  your  second  thoughts 
go  over  the  subject,  and  you  will  be  pos- 
sessed by  a  critical  mood.  Your  thoughts 
will  not  seem  so  fit  or  worthy  as  they  did 
at  first.  You  feel  bound  to  reject,  to  add, 
to  rearrange.  Do  not  be  afraid.  Go 
through  it  all  over  and  over  again.  After 
a  time  you  will  find  that  the  thoughts 
begin  to  come  to  you  in  clearer  fashion 
and  better  form.  Your  third  thoughts 
will    perhaps    harmonise    with    your    first. 


Ill  Lectures  on  Preaching  93 

through  the  aid  of  the  criticism  of  your 
second  thoughts.  Write  till  your  mind 
is  perfectly  clear,  and  till  you  certainly 
know  your  own  thoughts.  You  will  gain 
accuracy  of  thought.  Long  ago  Lord 
Bacon  told  us  that  if  reading  makes  a 
full  man,  writing  makes  an  exact  man. 
We  shall  lose  nothing  by  the  pen-work 
which  promotes  exactitude,  and  so  makes 
us  truly  masters  of  our  thoughts.  We 
shall  get  rid  of  those  vague  ideas  which 
seem  great,  and  we  shall  get  in  their  place 
those  simple  and  clear  ideas  which  may  be 
useful. 

Further,  writing  is  likely  to  give  you 
the  faculty  of  expression  ;  for  it  often 
compels  you  to  put  things  in  various 
ways.  Cultivate  the  habit  of  writing 
down  your  thoughts.  Test  them  as  they 
stand  before  you  in  black  and  white.  You 
will  see  reasons  for   writing  them  afresh. 


94  Lectures  on  Preaching         lect. 

Things  will  strike  you  in  a  different  way. 
In  your  efforts  after  clearness  you  will  gain 
mastery  over  language,  for  mastery  over 
language  is  little  more  than  mastery  over 
our  own  thoughts. 

On  these  three  things  —  Reflection, 
Reading,  and  Writing — you  must  rely  if 
you  are  to  accumulate  fit  and  useful 
material.  Briefly,  then,  what  we  have 
said  amounts  to  this.  Firstly,  find 
out  what  you  want :  reflect.  Secondly, 
supply  yourself  with  it  :  read.  Thirdly, 
clear  away  all  the  needless  encumbrances, 
and  get  your  thoughts  on  the  subject 
clear :  write.  At  this  stage  you  are  like 
the  modeller  who  has  found  out  how  much 
clay  he  requires.  He  has  now  to  use  his 
power  in  modelling  it. 

What  power  shall  we  employ.?  My 
answer  is — The  power  of  truthfulness. 
Of  that  I  now  wish  to  speak  very  specially. 


Ill  Lectures  on  Preaching  95 

Our  first  wish,  when  we  have  provided 
our  material,  will  be  to  set  it  fitly  and 
worthily  before  our  people.  We  are  all 
human,  and  the  desire  to  do  well  what  we 
have  to  do  is  not  altogether  a  bad  one. 
You  wish,  then,  that  what  you  do  shall 
be  done  as  well  as  you  can  do  it.  This  is 
reasonable,  but  it  leads  to  snares.  The 
desire  to  do  well  becomes  the  desire  to 
excel.  The  desire  to  excel  becomes  the 
desire  to  be  original ;  and  when  a  preacher 
desires  to  be  original  his  fate  is  sealed. 
Beware  of  that  hateful  word — Originality. 
There  was  at  the  Battle  of  Waterloo  a 
certain  ditch  over  which  the  French  troops 
were  obliged  to  pass,  but  as  they  charged 
over  it  numbers  fell  into  it  to  rise  no  more. 
Originality  is  as  that  ditch  to  the  preacher. 
Into  it  many  a  man  of  promise  has  fallen, 
and  lost  his  power  of  higher  usefulness. 
If  you  wish  to  be  original,  turn  your  back 


96  Lectures  on  Preaching         lect. 

upon  this  desire  of  originality.  What  do 
you  mean  by  originality  ?  Is  it  something 
out  of  the  common  ?  Do  you  mean  that 
you  do  not  wish  to  deal  out  the  platitudes 
of  the  pulpit  which  have  been  so  much 
condemned,  that  you  do  not  wish  to  be 
commonplace  in  your  sermons,  and  to  say 
what  other  people  have  said  a  hundred 
times  before  ?  But  consider.  Do  you 
wish  to  say  something  which  is  both  true 
and  striking  ^  or  do  you  wish  to  say 
something  that  is  striking,  whether  it  is 
true  or  untrue  ^  If  the  former,  then  seek 
truth  first ;  if  the  latter,  your  originality 
is  untrue.  The  best  way  is  the  way  of 
truth,  and  the  best  question  to  ask  your- 
self is  not  "  Is  this  original  ^  "  but  "  Is  it 
true  .^  "  There  is  no  peace  in  the  work  of 
him  who  is  straining  after  that  wretched 
thing  people  call  originality.  At  the  best 
we  can  be  but  messengers  of  what  is  true. 


Ill  Lectures  on  Preaching  97 

"  I  am  the  Voice,"  said  the  Baptist,  and 
for  us  this  saying  is  best  ;  "  I  am  the 
Voice  of  the  truth  which  is  given  me  to 
say  ;  I  seek  no  originality  ;  I  affect  no 
eccentricity  ;  I  am  the  servant  of  truth." 
This  is  the  honest  attitude  of  mind  ;  all 
other  leads  to  self-deception  and  unreality, 
but  this  leads  to  the  only  real  originality. 

For  what  is  originality  .^  It  is  that 
which  springs  from  the  ultimate  source  of 
thought,  which  owes  nothing  to  any  other 
channel.  It  follows  that  in  truth  alone  is 
there  originality  ;  and  if  God  Himself  be 
the  root  of  all  thought  and  life,  then  that 
which  has  its  origin  in  Him  is  truth.  To 
keep  near  to  Him,  to  seek  His  truth,  and 
to  speak  it,  is  the  secret  of  the  utterance 
which  is  original,  and  which,  coming  from 
Him  who  made  man's  spirit,  cannot  fail  to 
reach  the  spirits  of  men.  The  true  origin- 
ality  is  truth.      Originality    in    the   mode 


^8  Lectures  on  Preaching         lect. 

of  presenting  truth  is  nature's  gift,  and 
can  only  be  ours  when  we  are  natural. 
The  spirit  of  truthfulness,  therefore, 
must  be  ours  in  our  preaching  work. 
This  must  enter  into  every  part  of  it. 
We  must  treat  with  truthfulness  our  text, 
our  subject,  our  people,  and  ourselves. 

There  must  be  truthfulness  in  the  treat- 
ment of  the  text.  This  is  not  a  needless 
caution.  There  are  ways  of  dealing  with 
texts  which  can  only  be  described  as  un- 
truthful ways.  You  choose  a  text  ;  it 
is  a  striking  text  ;  it  will  produce  an 
effect  upon  the  congregation  by  the  mere 
announcement  ;  you  do  not  ask  what  is 
the  truth  which  underlies  this  text ;  you 
are  content  with  the  words.  I  doubt  the 
wisdom  or  the  rightness  of  this  method. 
It  is  motto-preaching.  There  are  cases,  no 
doubt,  in  which  the  misapplication  is  too 
obvious  to  mislead.     When  Rowland  Hill 


Ill  Lectures  on  Preaching  99 

preached  against  the  extravagant  head- 
dresses of  his  day,  he  selected  as  his  text 
"  Topnot,  come  down."  That  was  strik- 
ing if  you  hke  ;  it  was  certainly  too 
grotesque  an  adaptation  of  the  words  "  Let 
them  that  are  on  the  housetop  not  come 
down  "  to  deceive  any  one.  But  though  the 
incident  is  attributed  to  a  good  man,  I  am 
not  persuaded  that  it  was  wise  or  well  for 
him  to  have  so  handled  a  text.  But  worse 
than  a  grotesque  adaptation  like  this  is  the 
custom  of  selecting  a  text  and  forcing  into 
it  a  meaning  quite  alien  to  the  author's 
thought,  and  doing  so,  seriously,  as  though 
the  sermon  were  an  exposition  of  the  text. 
Fenelon  in  his  discourse  on  eloquence  gives 
an  example.  He  describes  the  friend  who 
speaks  in  glowing  terms  of  the  very  interest- 
ing and  striking  sermon  which  he  has  heard. 
The  sermon  had  been  preached  on  Ash 
Wednesday,   and   the   text    was    "  I    have 


lOO  Lectures  on  Preaching         lect. 

eaten  ashes  as  it  were  bread."  The  text 
seemed  so  admirably  appropriate  ;  and  the 
method  of  treatment  was  ingenious,  and 
skilfully  led  up  to  the  theme  of  Lent. 
But  Fenelon  concludes  that  the  sermon  was 
a  sorry  one,  because  in  it  Scripture  had 
been  falsely  applied.  The  original  mean- 
ing of  the  words  had  been  neglected,  and 
a  totally  foreign  one  imported  into  them. 
There  was  no  connection  between  the 
sorrows  of  the  Psalmist,  who  had  suffered 
disaster  and  humiliation  at  the  hands  of 
his  enemies,  and  the  humiliation  of  a 
Christian  who  seeks  to  disengage  himself 
from  sinful  pleasures.  The  same  objection 
applies  to  treating  the  text  "  Why  tarry 
the  wheels  of  his  chariot  V  as  though  the 
advent  waited  for  was  that  of  our  Lord, 
or  that  of  death,  coming  to  deliver  some 
waiting  Christian  out  of  the  miseries  of  this 
sinful  world.      Expositions  of  this  sort  are 


Ill  Lectures  on  Preaching  loi 

examples  of  violence  and  unworthy  violence 
done  to  the  old  story.  Such  far-fetched 
falsehoods  are  in  every  way  to  be  avoided. 
Those  who  preach  from  the  Bible  may 
well  remember  Cecil's  saying  —  not  less 
valuable  now  than  in  his  day  — "  The 
meaning  of  the  Bible  is  the  Bible." 

If  you  desire  to  deal  with  texts  in  this 
fashion  you  are  a  motto-preacher,  and  you 
should  explain  to  your  people  that  you  are 
such  a  preacher.  They  can  then  go  else- 
where if  they  wish  for  wholesome  preach- 
ing. But  I  hope  that  you  will  cultivate  a 
better  and  truer  method  by  being  ever  true 
to  your  text. 

Be  true  to  your  subject.  There 
is  a  temptation  to  zealous  men  in  this 
matter.  It  arises  from  the  earnestness 
and  devotion  with  which  you  are  attached 
to  certain  great  Christian  truths.  God 
forbid  that  I  should  say  one  word  to  lessen 


I02  Lectures  on  Preaching         lect. 

your  belief  in  those  truths  which  God  has 
made  helpful  to  your  souls.  Cherish  those 
truths,  but  do  not  suppose  that  you  are 
bound  to  drag  them  in  when  you  are 
preaching  upon  some  text  in  which  they 
have  no  appropriate  place.  To  do  so  is 
to  commence  a  faithless  habit.  Against 
this  method  I  may  cite  the  opinion  of 
one  whose  name  in  Cambridge,  and  among 
Cambridge  men,  will  be  held  in  reverence 
and  honour,  for  the  life  of  devotion  and 
piety  spent  in  Cambridge — I  mean  Charles 
Simeon.  He  stated  that  it  had  been 
his  aim  in  his  Horae  Homileticae  not  so 
to  pervert  the  Scripture  as  to  make  it 
refer  to  Christ  and  His  salvation  when  no 
such  object  appears  to  have  been  in  the 
contemplation  of  the  inspired  writer.  "  He 
regrets  to  observe  in  some  individuals  what 
he  knows  not  how  to  designate  by  any  more 
appropriate  term  than  that "  (which,  how- 


Ill  Lectures  on  Preaching  103 

ever,  he  uses  with  much  hesitation)  "  of  an 
ultra-Evangelical  taste ;  which  overlooks 
in  many  passages  the  practical  lessons  they 
were  intended  to  convey,  and  detects  in  them 
only  the  leading  doctrines  of  the  Gospel." 

This  contains  wise  counsel.  It  reminds 
us  that  even  zeal  should  be  under  the 
control  of  reverence  for  truth.  Where 
this  is  forgotten  much  harm  may  be  done. 
The  hearers  are  irritated  by  irrelevancies. 
We  dishonour  the  very  truths  we  seek  to 
exalt  ;  we  cannot  justify  our  exegesis. 
Such  methods  are  seldom  defensible  and 
are  often  offensive.  We  may  pardon  the 
Puritan  divine  who,  when  preaching  on  the 
triumphal  entry  into  Jerusalem,  divided 
his  subject  into  three  heads,  showing  first 
how  by  nature  every  man  is  an  ass  ; 
secondly,  how  grace  saddled  and  bridled 
him ;  and  thirdly,  how  the  Lord  rides 
him  in  triumph  into  the  New  Jerusalem  ; 


104  Lectures  on  Preaching        lect. 

but  we  cannot  forgive  the  preacher  who 
brought  together  the  parallel  passages  from 
the  gospels,  "  Are  not  two  sparrows  sold  for 
a  farthing  ?  "  "  Are  not  five  sparrows  sold 
for  two  farthings  ?  "  and  asked  his  people 
to  observe  the  generosity  which  threw  in 
the  extra  bird  on  the  larger  transaction. 

We  cannot  commend  those  who  find 
spiritual  meanings  and  vital  truths  in  every 
chance  arrangement  and  incident  of  Old 
and  New  Testament  story,  who  find  deep 
significance  in  the  fact  that  four-and- 
twenty  knives  were  brought  back  from 
Babylon,  who  devote  whole  sermons  to 
the  bell  and  pomegranate  of  the  high- 
priest's  garment,  who  see  an  argument 
for  the  existence  of  hell  in  the  everlasting 
burnings  of  Isaiah  Ixvi.,  and  hints  of  the 
Holy  Sacrament  in  the  twopence  given 
by  the  good  Samaritan  to  the  inn-keeper. 
All  this  is  trifling,  and  when  practised  by 


Ill  Lectures  on  Preaching  105 

the  preacher  is  likely  to  become  mis- 
chievous trifling  ;  for  such  treatment  of 
sacred  texts  only  reveals  a  spirit  which  is 
intellectually  frivolous  where  it  ought  to  be 
sincere,  reverent,  and  earnest  to  preserve  and 
to  preach  truth,  not  handling  the  word  of 
God  deceitfully.  The  truths  we  reverence 
can  very  well  stand  on  their  own  natural 
and  legitimate  foundations.  When  will 
men  learn  that  truth  needs  no  unlawful  or 
enforced  aid  ^  We  should  reverence  truth 
too  much  to  dream  of  supporting  it  by 
anything  which  is  not  truth.  Our  first 
duty  towards  our  subject  is  to  make  it 
clear,  and  for  this  we  must  ask  of  any 
passage  we  wish  to  expound.  What  is  the 
truth  which  lies  here .?  what  was  the 
writer's  meaning  in  these  words  ^  Make 
that  truth  preach  to  the  people ;  make 
it  clear  to  them  ;  and  you  will  have  quite 
enough  to  do. 


io6  Lectures  on  Preaching        lect. 

Be  truthful  to  the  people.  Every 
school  of  thought  has  its  pet  phrases ; 
and  congregations  addicted  to  certain 
lines  of  thought  or  attached  to  certain 
schools  get  into  the  habit  of  look- 
ing for  the  accustomed  phrases.  The 
temptation  to  use  these  is  great.  The 
expectant  congregation  can  easily  be 
satisfied.  Their  distrust  of  the  young 
preacher  (and  there  are  always  some  dis- 
trustful critics  at  church)  is  lulled  to  sleep 
as  soon  as  the  pet  phrase  has  been  em- 
ployed. The  young  man  is  all  right. 
He  is  sound.  He  has  given  the  required 
password.  They  may  go  to  sleep  ;  and  they 
do  go  to  sleep.  There  are  those  whose 
whole  religion  lies  in  a  phrase.  They  look 
for  and  regard  its  use  as  the  superstitious 
do  that  of  a  dream,  an  amulet,  or  a  relic. 
The  use  of  the  expected  phrase  acts  like 
a  spiritual  narcotic  on  hearers  of  this  sort. 


Ill  Lectures  on  Preaching  107 

It  is  ill  for  the  hearers  to  give  them  such 
things,  and  yet  there  are  preachers  who 
are  not  at  ease  till  they  have  brought  out 
the  magic  word.  Sermons  of  such  men 
are  like  a  rabbit-hunt.  The  hunt  begins  : 
there  is  a  scratching  and  a  scrambling 
and  a  flinging  up  of  dirt,  then  suddenly 
out  comes  the  terrier  with  the  wretched 
dead  rabbit.  So  with  the  sermon  in  ques- 
tion. The  preacher  announces  his  text. 
We  do  not  see  how  the  phrase  can  well 
be  brought  in,  the  text  hardly  justifies  it ; 
but  the  preacher,  like  the  dog,  is  equal  to 
the  occasion  :  he  tears  aside  the  difficulties, 
dives  below  the  meaning,  flings  out  some 
irrelevant  generalities,  and  drags  forth  the 
expected  phrase  and  pronounces  it  with 
unction.  The  smile  of  approval  is  forth- 
coming, then  the  contented  folding  of  the 
hands,  and  the  patronising  slumber  of  people 
at  their  ease  in  Zion.     I  do  not  say  never 


io8  Lectures  on  Preaching         lect. 

use  such  phrases.  If  the  phrase  represents 
to  you  some  real  truth  and  you  can  honestly 
use  it,  do  not  be  afraid  to  do  so,  but  use  it 
cautiously,  seldom,  and  never  without  some 
explanation.  But  if  you  cannot  use  it 
honestly,  avoid  it  ;  and  deny  yourself  the 
use  of  it,  if  your  mind  does  not  attach  any 
clear  and  real  significance  to  it. 

If  I  may  speak  frankly,  I  think  that, 
as  a  rule,  phrases  are  enemies  of  truth.  A 
phrase  in  its  first  coinage  is  often  the 
expression  of  a  grand  truth.  It  embodies 
some  clear  principle  which  thousands 
hold  dear  ;  its  utterance  evokes  enthusiasm  ; 
it  becomes  a  watchword  ;  it  is  a  living 
thing,  because  it  expresses  a  real,  intelligible 
thought.  But  when  a  generation  has 
passed,  the  force  of  the  phrase  is  weakened, 
because  the  stirring  controversies  which 
gave  it  birth  no  longer  exist.  Men's  minds 
have  drifted  otherwhere.    The  earnest  souls, 


in  Lectures  on  Preaching  109 

who  fought  for  what  they  understood  and 
loved,  have  disappeared.  Their  place  is 
taken  by  those  who  have  inherited  their 
language  but  not  their  souls.  The  fol- 
lowers of  a  great  movement  have  been 
succeeded  by  the  utterers  of  phrases.  The 
passionate  devotion  to  truths  has  disap- 
peared. The  eager  keenness  to  discern 
heretical  phraseology  proclaims  that  the 
worship  of  the  letter  has  commenced  its 
reign.  From  that  moment  the  very  phrase 
which  meant  truth,  and  was  in  its  day  so 
true,  becomes  the  foe  of  truth  and  the 
source  of  spiritual  torpor.  Against  this 
state  of  things  be  on  your  guard.  Resolve 
never  to  be  mere  repeaters  of  phrases. 
If  a  phrase  embodies  a  truth  to  you, 
speak  out  its  truth  simply  and  boldly ; 
but  never  use  it  because  it  is  a  phrase, 
or  because  it  is  a  phrase  which  the  people 
expect  you  to  use.     Be  more  true  to  your 


no  Lectures  on  Preaching         lect. 

people  than  to  allow  them  to  rest  on  the 
magic  of  reiterated  phrases.  Be  so  true  to 
them  that  you  will  give  the  heart  of  truth 
and  not  the  mere  semblance  of  it  only. 
In  failing  to  be  quite  honest  with  them 
you  endanger  your  own  integrity  and,  with 
it,  your  power  of  usefulness. 

This  brings  us  to  the  last  counsel,  viz. 
Be  true  to  yourselves.  First,  be  true  to 
yourself  from  an  intellectual  point  of  view. 
Be  content  to  use  your  own  powers. 
Whatever  gifts  God  has  given  you,  use 
them  to  their  utmost  in  the  expression  of 
His  truth.  Read  for  yourself;  think  for 
yourself.  Take  care  that  what  you  study 
becomes  your  own.  Do  not  transfer 
knowledge  from  paper  to  paper,  but  as- 
similate what  you  study.  Read,  mark, 
learn,  and  inwardly  digest  all  that  you 
can.  Do  not  be  ambitious  to  appear  more 
or  better  than   you  are.      Do  not  imitate 


Ill  Lectures  on  Preaching  iii 

the  frog  in  the  fable.  Remember,  not 
every  soil  can  produce  the  same  fruits. 
"  Nee  vero  terras  ferre  omnes  omnia  pos- 
sunt."  Be  true,  therefore,  to  your  own 
genius ;  for  in  so  doing  you  are  being 
true  to  that  which  God  gave  you.  Culti- 
vate and  develop  your  own  gift.  Do  not 
fling  it  on  one  side  for  the  sake  of  copying 
another  man.  Secondly,  be  true  to  yourself 
from  a  spiritual  standpoint.  You  may 
meet  among  your  people  many  who  are 
much  more  experienced  in  Christian  life 
than  yourself  ;  they  will  speak  of  their  ex- 
periences to  you,  and  you  may  be  tempted 
to  think  that  because  you  are  a  clergyman 
in  the  parish  you  ought  to  be  at  least 
their  equals  in  those  things  which  belong 
to  the  kingdom  of  heaven.  But  here, 
perhaps  above  all  here,  be  content  :  be 
humble  :  be  ready  to  learn.  Do  not 
strain  after  that  which  God  has  not  given 


112  Lectures  on  Preaching         lect. 

you.  Do  not  attempt  to  transcend  your 
own  spiritual  experience.  Be  true  to  your- 
self in  this  as  in  all  else.  It  may  be  that 
you  can  only  give  to  them  as  yet  the  milk 
of  the  Word  ;  but  if  you  give  this,  as  God 
shall  enable  you  from  your  own  early 
experiences,  it  will  be  sweeter  and  more 
wholesome  food  than  all  the  made-up  food 
prepared  out  of  borrowed  experiences. 
Surely  it  is  wise  and  well  to  speak  only 
what  you  do  know,  and  to  wait  patiently 
for  the  many  things  which  God  will  reveal 
to  you  as  your  life  and  heart  -  experience 
grow.  Follow  closely  His  teaching  and 
His  light.  As  you  do  so,  what  He  teaches 
will  become  so  true  that  you  needs  must 
believe  it.  And  if  you  see  other  men 
higher  up  on  God's  hill  than  yourselves, 
be  content  on  the  lower  levels.  Thank 
God  that  they  are  there.  Trust  Him  that 
He  will  yet  bring  you  there.     In  this  way 


Ill  Lectures  on  Preaching  113 

you  will  build  up  experience  and  know- 
ledge which  will  be  more  to  you  in  the 
years  to  come  than  any  present  or  hasty 
success.  Do  not  be  eager  to  overtake 
your  life.  Take  quietly  your  daily  bread. 
Nourish  yourself  on  it.  Be  learning  every 
day.  Be  wise  enough  to  postpone  preach- 
ing on  some  topics.  Many  a  young 
preacher  has  been  tempted  to  deal  with 
matters  of  which,  from  the  nature  of  the 
case,  he  must  really  be  ignorant.  If  the 
poet  counselled  that  a  poem  might  be  left 
nine  years,  may  we  not  leave  for  a  few 
years  some  subjects  of  which  perchance  in 
that  time  we  may  be  prepared  to  speak  ^ 
Do  not  let  haste  sow  regrets  in  your  life. 
Note  all  you  can.  Accumulate  thought. 
Miss  no  opportunity  of  learning,  whether 
by  study  or  by  experience.  You  will  never 
meet  with  a  single  experience  in  life  which 
will  not  prove  valuable  to  you  in  later  life. 
1 


114  Lectures  on  Preaching         lect. 

I  am  persuaded  that  God  apportions  our 
experiences  and  grants  us  opportunities  to 
fit  us  for  the  place  to  which  He  means  to 
call  us.  Use  therefore  all  offices  and  all 
experiences  simply  and  truthfully,  in  the 
faith  that  by  doing  the  work  we  are  given 
to-day,  we  are  fitting  ourselves  for  that 
which  God  may  give  us  to-morrow.  In 
this,  and  in  all,  be  true  to  yourselves. 

Let  me  sum  up  what  I  have  said.  I 
have  urged  upon  you  to  reflect,  to  read,  to 
write.  I  have  pointed  out  to  you  that  in 
the  use  of  materials  so  accumulated  we 
must  be  possessed  by  a  spirit  of  unfeigned 
truthfulness.  All  this  may  find  expression 
in  two  words  —  diligence  and  sincerity. 
Exercise  great  diligence.  Do  not  think 
that  you  can  do  by  quickness  or  genius 
that  which  can  only  be  done  by  simple, 
honest,  hard  work.  Sir  Joshua  Reynolds 
pointed  out  to  his  students  long  ago  that 


Ill  Lectures  on  Preaching  115 

reliance  on  talents  to  the  neglect  of  hard 
work  has  brought  it  about  that  one  who 
was  looked  upon  as  more  than  a  man  at 
sixteen  has  often  been  found  to  be  less 
than  a  man  at  sixty.  Bulwer  Lytton  puts 
similar  wisdom  into  the  mouth  of  one  of 
his  characters.  He  says  :  "I  attribute 
my  success  in  life  to  three  things.  I  have 
never  relied  upon  genius  for  that  which  only 
can  be  gained  by  labour  ;  I  have  never 
attempted  to  teach  what  I  have  not 
thoroughly  studied ;  and  I  have  never 
made  a  promise  which  I  have  not  done 
my  best  to  fulfil."  I  need  not  point  out 
the  value  of  such  counsel.  It  is  as  profit- 
able in  a  clergyman's  life  as  in  other 
callings.  Be  examples  in  these  things. 
Reverence  hard  work.  Read  and  study 
before  you  preach.  Make  any  sacrifice 
rather  than  fail  or  be  deficient  in  your 
work.     You  are  called  to  this.     At  your 


Ii6  Lectures  on  Preaching         lect. 

ordination  you  will  give  the  solemn  pledge 
to  be  diligent  students,  devoted  to  such 
studies  as  may  make  you  wax  riper  and 
stronger  in  your  ministry.     Be  diligent. 

Be  sincere.  Cultivate  inward  truthful- 
ness. Do  not  be  content  with  what  I  may 
call  professional  truthflilness.  Be  scrupu- 
lous to  maintain  inward  integrity.  Be 
earnest  that  the  thing  you  preach  is  true 
for  you  as  well  as  for  your  people.  Let 
your  utterances  be  the  outpourings  of  what 
you  truly  feel,  know,  and  believe.  For 
this  baptize  your  hours  of  study  and  pre- 
paration with  prayer.  Before  and  after 
and  while  you  prepare  your  sermon,  pray. 
Lay  all  your  thought  and  labour  at  God's 
feet.  Bossuet  never  entered  the  pulpit 
without  prayer. 

When  Essex  came  back  from  Ireland 
under  Queen  Elizabeth's  displeasure  he 
consulted  Lord  Bacon,  and  asked  whether 


Ill  Lectures  on  Preaching  117 

the  Queen's  displeasure  was  likely  to  be 
lasting.  Lord  Bacon  replied,  "  To  speak 
the  truth,  nubecula  est.  It  is  but  a 
cloudlet ;  and  if  the  cloud  descend  it  will 
melt  in  mist,  but  if  it  go  upwards  it  will 
come  down  in  rain." 

It  is  the  same  with  our  work,  "  nubecula 
esty  If  we  allow  it  to  drop  earthward  it 
will  vanish  in  profitless  mist  ;  but  if  we 
lift  it  upwards  in  prayer  it  will  rise  to  the 
throne  of  God.  He  will  touch  it  with  His 
inspiration,  and  filled  with  His  power  it 
will  descend  in  refreshing  rain  upon  the 
thirsty  hearts  of  men. 


LECTURE    IV 

The  subject  of  our  lecture  is  the  structure 
of  the  sermon.  I  beg  to  remind  you  at 
the  outset  that  the  best  things  grow, 
and  they  take  their  structure  during  their 
growth.  Anything  like  an  enforced, 
elaborate,  and  artificial  structure  defeats 
itself  Therefore  I  would  lay  down  the 
preliminary  caution  that  many  of  the 
counsels  which  I  may  give  to-night  are 
true  of  the  later  development  of  the 
preacher's  experience,  and  are  hardly  as 
true,  or  as  fully  applicable,  in  the  very 
early  stages  of  his  career.  It  is  wise  to 
remember  this,  for  though   rules   may  be 


LECT.  IV     Lectures  on  Preaching  119 

useful,  they  may  be  mischievous,  and  they 
almost  certainly  mislead  those  who  seek  to 
apply  them  before  they  have  caught  the 
spirit  which  underlies  them.  Moreover, 
each  man  must  discover  methods  for  him- 
self ;  and  if  he  is  wise  he  will  regulate  the 
structure  of  the  sermon  according  to  his 
own  genius  and  character.  All  that  can 
really  be  hoped  is  that  by  such  lectures 
as  these  some  thoughts  and  principles 
may  be  scattered,  which  in  time  to  come 
you  may  be  able  to  assimilate,  transform, 
and  utilise  according  to  your  own 
method. 

But  there  is  a  certain  general  principle 
of  method  which  I  think  you  will  find  to 
be  of  service  even  in  your  earliest  attempts. 
You  remember  the  passage  in  the  prophecy 
of  Ezekiel  where  the  prophet  is  bidden 
to  preach  or  prophesy  to  the  dry  bones. 
The  bones  lay  scattered,  disorganised,  before 


I20  Lectures  on  Preaching         lect. 

him  ;  but,  as  he  spoke,  bone  knit  itself  to 
its  bone,  the  flesh  came  up  and  covered 
the  framework,  and  at  last  the  spirit  of 
life  from  God  came  into  them,  "  and  they 
stood  upon  their  feet,  an  exceeding  great 
army."  I  think  that  we  may  find  here  an 
illustration  of  the  method  of  preparation. 
For  in  the  progress  of  the  vision  we  see 
material,  order,  beauty,  life  ;  and  the 
sermon  should  exhibit  all  these.  We  must 
have  material,  but  we  must  not  allow  it  to 
remain  structureless  material.  It  must  be 
organised  material,  knit  into  form  and 
clothed  with  beauty  and  instinct  with  life. 
In  other  words,  our  materials  must  be 
compacted  of  those  elements  which  appeal 
to  the  reason  and  affection  of  our  hearers. 
Too  often  sermons  embody  only  those 
materials  which  the  preacher  favours,  and 
the  appeal  of  the  sermon  is  limited  in 
consequence.     A  man,  for  instance,  of  an 


IV  Lectures  on  Preaching  121 

argumentative  disposition  will  fill  his 
sermon  with  reasoning,  and  his  discourse 
bristles  with  suitable  and  unsuitable 
arguments.  If,  on  the  other  hand,  he 
delights  in  instructing  people,  he  will 
pack  his  sermon  close  with  an  imposing 
amount  of  information.  If,  again,  he  has 
a  poetical  temperament,  he  will  be  tempted 
to  make  his  sermon  sparkle  with  quotations, 
metaphors,  and  literary  allusions.  If  he  is 
a  man  of  a  merely  devout  temperament 
(by  which  I  mean  devout  without  being 
anything  else),  he  will  be  tempted  to 
imagine  that  his  ethos  will  atone  for  all 
deficiencies,  and  because  the  spirit  of 
devotion  is  there,  there  is  no  need  of 
conviction  and  instruction. 

In  all  these  instances  there  are  defects. 
Those  to  whom  we  speak  have  minds, 
consciences,  and  hearts  ;  and  our  aim 
should  be  to  enlist  the  interest  and  alliance 


122  Lectures  on  Preaching         lect. 

of  all  these  powers.  The  sermon  should 
be  reasonable,  instructive,  convincing,  and 
persuasive.  It  should  appeal  to  the  under- 
standing, the  conscience,  the  imagination, 
and  the  affections. 

Last  time  I  spoke  of  the  great  lines  of  a 
clergyman's  reading.  I  reminded  you  of 
the  importance  of  pursuing  those  studies 
which  will  brace  up  the  mind,  enlarge  the 
arena  of  knowledge,  cultivate  the  imagina- 
tion, and  above  all,  quicken  a  devout  spirit 
within  us.  As  these  should  be  the  ranges 
of  our  studies,  so  all  of  these  should  find  a 
place  in  the  sermon.  If  the  sermon  be  all 
reasoning,  it  will  be  dry  ;  if  it  be  full  of 
information  only,  it  will  be  pedantic  ;  if  it 
be  overlaid  with  illustrations,  it  will  leave 
the  mind  unsatisfied  ;  if  it  be  limited 
to  devotional  meditations  only,  it  will 
lack  robustness  and  so  far  effectiveness. 
Remember    the    nature    of    your    people  ; 


IV  Lectures  on  Preaching  123 

endeavour  to  meet  them  in  their  whole 
being.  You  will  not  find  it  a  bad  rule  to 
ask  yourself  while  preparing  your  sermon, 
Is  there  reason  in  what  I  am  making 
ready?  is  there  that  which  will  appeal  to 
the  minds  of  thoughtful  men  ?  But  ask 
also  whether  you  are  providing  instruction 
for  the  ignorant.  Here  let  me  say  that 
there  is  cheap  chatter  which  tells  us  that 
the  clergyman  is  behind  the  age.  Do  not 
be  misled  by  this  sort  of  talk.  I  certainly 
would  not  advise  you  to  be  content  with 
ignorance  which  keeps  you  behind  the  age. 
But  you  may  be  tempted  by  idle  talk  of 
this  kind  to  assume  that  all  your  hearers 
have  read  the  last  review  or  are  acquainted 
with  the  last  novel.  You  may  be  tempted 
to  touch  on  these  things  instead  of  teach- 
ing what  you  were  sent  to  teach.  Re- 
member that  there  may  be  people  who  are 
full  of  the  spirit  of  the  age,  but  who  are 


124  Lectures  on  Preaching         lect. 

deficient  in  the  ordinary  knowledge  which 
is  common  in  a  third-rate  Sunday  school. 
I  have  heard  of  the  children  of  well-to-do 
and  so-called  cultivated  people  who  were 
delighted  with  the  story  of  the  Prodigal 
Son,  which  they  heard  for  the  first  time  by 
accident  —  or  rather  by  Providence  —  in 
church.  We  cannot  too  often  remind 
ourselves  that  many  things  which  are 
familiar  to  us  are  not  familiar  to  our 
people.  Our  position  is  a  difficult  one, 
because  we  have  to  steer  our  way  to  the 
hearts  and  consciences  of  people  whose 
knowledge  and  scientific  appreciation  may 
be  in  advance  of  our  own,  but  who  at  the 
same  time  may  be  extremely  ignorant  on 
the  subjects  which  it  is  our  duty  to  teach. 

It  is  not  unwise  to  give  explanations 
even  of  obvious  things,  if  only  we  do  so  in 
a  way  which  is  natural  and  not  patronising. 
I  heard  of  a  schoolmistress  who  had  taught 


IV  Lectures  on  Preaching  125 

the  New  Testament  for  years,  and  who  yet 
had  never  reaUsed  the  meaning  of  the 
Crucifixion  till  she  happened  to  see  that 
last  scene  delineated  in  a  stained  -  glass 
window.  Recognise  the  importance  of 
giving  information.  The  clergyman  lives 
too  much  in  the  pulpit  and  too  little  in 
the  pew.  He  forgets  the  weak,  the  ignor- 
ant, the  untrained.  Believe  me,  the  man 
who  sits  in  the  pew  is  not  offended  at 
hearing  what  he  already  knows.  If  the 
clergyman  tells  him  something  which  he 
knew  before,  he  is  not  altogether  displeased : 
he  congratulates  himself  that  he  knows  that. 
If  the  clergyman  tells  him  something  which 
he  did  not  know,  he  is  by  so  much  the 
gainer.  Be  careful  to  weave  real  instruction 
into  your  sermon  ;  strive  that  nobody  who 
listens  can  go  away  without  some  clear  idea  of 
the  meaning  of  the  text  or  story  with  which 
you  are  dealing.      And  this  can   easily  be 


126  Lectures  on  Preaching         lect. 

done  without  appearing  to  play  the  school- 
master. The  history,  manners,  and  customs, 
which,  when  understood,  throw  light  upon 
the  passage,  can  be  set  forth  in  clear  though 
subordinate  place.  When  thus  treated  as 
supports  to  the  main  purpose  of  the  sermon, 
there  will  be  little  likelihood  that  any 
hearer  will  feel  that  he  is  being  lectured  as 
a  schoolboy.  Briefly,  instruction,  though 
clear,  should  be  subordinate  to  argument  ; 
for  argument  is  essential  to  your  main 
purpose,  which  is  to  convince. 

Reason  and  information  should  enter 
into  the  sermon  ;  but  I  plead  that  illustra- 
tion may  have  a  place  there  also.  A 
sermon  may  be  sound  in  reasoning  and 
replete  with  information,  but  it  may  still  be 
dull.  There  is  illumination  in  illustration. 
But  there  is  more.  It  is  chiefly  through 
illustration  that  the  thought  of  the  sermon 
can  be  brought  near  to  the  hearer's  mind. 


IV  Lectures  on  Preaching  127 

Imagination  links  thought  with  life,  trans- 
lates for  the  audience  the  abstract  into  the 
concrete,  and  shows  how  the  principles 
which  were  strong  and  vivid  in  sacred  story 
have  their  living  message  for  our  own  day. 
It  is  well,  then,  that  the  preacher  should 
sometimes,  as  his  sermon  takes  shape,  ask 
himself  if  his  subject  has  been  made  suffi- 
ciently clear.  If  he  feels  doubt  on  the 
point,  let  him  bethink  himself  whether  his 
sermon  is  not  all  walls  and  no  windows  ; 
and  if  so,  let  him  take  pains  by  illustration 
or  example  or  story  to  let  in  the  light. 

But  all  these  are  of  little  value  unless  a 
true  ethos  pervades  the  sermon.  Here,  if 
anywhere,  rules  are  useless.  The  ethos  is 
the  outbreathing  of  the  spirit  which  is  in 
us.  If  our  souls  are  set  on  vanity,  puffed 
up  with  self,  demoralised  by  indolence  or 
self-indulgence,  no  amount  of  effort  can 
avail  to  make  the  tone  of  the  sermon  what 


128  Lectures  on  Preaching  lect. 

it  should  be.  The  only  road  to  success 
here  is  the  road  of  self-vigilance,  of  per- 
sonal devotion  and  spiritual  sincerity.  For 
this  we  must  be  men  who  live  in  the 
realisation  of  God's  presence  and  in  personal 
communion  with  Him.  In  vain  we  shall 
strive  to  awaken  spasmodic  sentiment  or 
create  by  effort  the  devotional  feeling.  We 
cannot  in  a  moment  contradict  ourselves  or 
counteract  the  subtle  influence  of  character 
upon  speech.  Live,  therefore,  in  prayer, 
and  learn  to  consecrate  all  your  hours  of 
preparation  and  every  effort  of  duty  with 
constant  and  repeated  prayer.  When  we 
rely  not  on  ourselves,  but  on  the  spirit  of 
the  Lord,  the  true  ethos  will  not  be  far 
from  the  sermon. 

I  have  spoken  hitherto  of  the  elements 
which  should  find  a  place  in  the  sermon. 
I  now  come  to  the  subject  of  arrangement. 
You    remember     that    Demosthenes    said 


IV  Lectures  on  Preaching  129 

action  was  the  first,  the  second,  and  the 
third  requisite  for  an  orator.  Of  the 
sermon  I  would  say  that  the  first  requisite 
is  order,  the  second  order,  and  the 
third  order  :  without  order  there  is  no 
sermon.  In  many  sermons  this  is  dis- 
regarded ;  but  order  is  imperatively  needed 
for  the  sermon's  sake,  for  the  people's  sake, 
and  for  your  own. 

For  the  sermon's  sake.  The  value  of 
the  combination  of  two  elements  may  de- 
pend upon  the  order  in  which  they  are 
taken.  From  chemistry  we  may  learn  this. 
The  alkali  must  precede  the  acid  if  effer- 
vescence is  to  follow.  It  has  been  well 
said,  "  Without  order  in  a  discourse  you 
cannot  get  into  your  subject,  and  without 
good  order  you  cannot  get  out  of  it."  An 
army  in  disorder,  Quintilian  reminds  us,  is 
a  hindrance  to  itself.  Parallel  to  this  is 
the  thought   so   often   expressed    that    the 

K 


130  Lectures  on  Preaching         lect. 

difference  between  an  army  and  a  mob  is 
organisation.  A  speech  without  order  has 
been  aptly  called  a  mob  of  words,  but 
well -marshalled  words  add  emphasis  to 
thought.  Be  careful,  therefore,  about  the 
order  of  the  sermon. 

For  the  sake  of  the  people  observe  order. 
When  you  have  decided  on  your  subject, 
consider  your  people.  Are  they  educated  or 
uneducated }  Let  us  suppose  that  they  are 
educated.  You  may  be  sure  that  a  dis- 
ordered discourse  will  be  intolerable  to  minds 
accustomed  to  some  precision  of  thought. 
Order  is  indispensable  for  such  an  audience. 
But  suppose  that  they  are  uneducated — are 
you  going  to  conclude  that  anything  will 
do  for  such .?  You  cannot  make  a  greater 
mistake.  Here  order  is  of  even  higher 
importance.  Without  order,  incoherence 
will  mark  your  sermon,  and  incoherence 
makes    it    unintelligible.      The    educated 


IV  Lectures  on  Preaching  131 

person  may  indeed  be  able  to  disentangle 
your  meaning  from  your  chaotic  expression, 
but  the  uneducated  will  be  bewildered; 
whereas  if  you  observe  just  and  well- 
considered  order,  the  educated  will  appre- 
ciate it  and  the  uneducated  will  be  able  to 
understand.  For  the  poor  and  ignorant, 
therefore,  you  will  need  to  take  pains  with 
the  structure  of  your  sermon.  In  this  Dr. 
Chalmers  was  an  example  to  all  preachers, 
for  he  took  as  much  trouble  in  the  pre- 
paration of  his  sermons  for  simple  folk  as  he 
did  in  that  for  his  university  work.  This 
is  the  spirit  in  which  real  work  should  be 
done.  Slovenly,  disorderly  work  carries 
little  profit.  For  the  sake,  therefore,  of 
those  to  whom  you  are  sent,  take  the 
trouble  to  observe  order  in  your  sermons. 

For  your  own  sake  be  careful  of  order. 
If  you  are  in  the  habit  of  flinging  your 
thoughts   on   paper   anyhow,   you   will   do 


132  Lectures  on  Preaching         lect. 

harm    to    your    own   mind    and   character. 
The  habit  of  accuracy  is  closely  allied  to 
truth  ;  and  the  observance  of  order  shows 
a    kind   of  conscience.      Disorder,   on   the 
other  hand,  betrays  a  spirit  not  fully  alive 
to   responsibility.      It   leads  to  that  heed- 
lessness which  puts  down  anything  without 
thought  ;    it  leads  to  a  lack  of  reverence 
towards  our  work.     Cecil  said  that  it  re- 
quires as  much  skill  to  know  what  not  to 
put  into  a  sermon  as  what  to  put  into  it. 
This  is  true  :  but  it  requires  also  a  reverent 
courage  to  reject  what  is  inappropriate  or 
unfit.       The    preacher    who    fills    up    his 
sermon  with  padding,  regardless  of  object 
or  purpose,  suffers  a  moral  deterioration. 

I  hope,  therefore,  that  we  are  agreed  as 
to  the  importance  of  order  in  a  sermon. 
But  order  is  not  sameness.  Order  may 
exist  in  more  than  one  form.  The  same 
method  does  not  suit  all  men.     One  man 


IV  Lectures  on  Preaching  133 

has  a  gift  for  analysis ;  another  a  ready 
power  of  synthesis.  A  sermon  may  be 
topical,  as  it  is  called  ;  it  may  be  ex- 
pository. Every  man  must  follow  his 
gift  in  these  matters.  Nature's  order  is 
not  always  the  same,  and  each  man 
must  use  his  own  style.  This  will 
readily  be  allowed  ;  but  it  may  be  asked 
whether  the  preacher  should  vary  his  own 
style,  or  having  discovered  his  own  method 
adhere  to  that  one  method  only.  In 
other  words,  ought  a  man  to  form  every 
sermon  after  the  same  model,  or  ought 
he  to  use  a  structure  which  varies  accord- 
ing to  his  subject.''  One  very  eminent 
man  (whose  unique  gifts  gave  him  a  com- 
manding position  among  the  very  greatest 
and  best  preachers),  Bishop  Phillips  Brooks 
of  Massachusetts,  gave  his  judgment  in 
favour  of  adhering  to  one  settled  order. 
His  argument  was,  that  in  the  haste  and 


134  Lectures  on  Preaching         lect. 

pressure  of  work  there  is  an  enormous 
economy  of  time  in  having  a  fixed  frame- 
work or  mould  into  which  you  can  cast 
your  subject.  I  admit  the  economy  of 
time,  but  I  cannot  bring  myself  (though 
in  the  face  of  such  an  authority  one  may 
well  doubt)  to  accept  this  view.  It  is 
certainly  an  economy  to  have  my  frame- 
work always  ready.  I  am  like  the  ship- 
builder who  is  ready  to  build  at  any  given 
notice  a  certain  ship  on  given  lines.  The 
builder  who  confines  his  work  to  the  con- 
struction of  yachts  may  do  well  to  have 
his  lines  ready  ;  but  if  he  accepts  larger 
business  he  must  be  prepared  with  variety. 
In  other  words,  the  difficulty  is  that  all  sub- 
jects do  not  lend  themselves  to  the  same 
mode  of  treatment.  There  are  subjects 
which  almost  claim  an  analytical  treatment, 
and  others  which  may  be  said  to  demand  a 
synthetical  method.     Further,  in  expound- 


IV  Lectures  on  Preaching  135 

ing  a  passage,  the  chosen  framework  will  be 
of  little  avail.  Consider,  too,  the  variety 
of  people  whom  you  may  have  to  address. 
The  method  which  is  suitable  for  the  church 
may  not  be  the  best  for  the  mission-room. 
Synthetic  treatment  may  be  best  in  the 
morning  ;  analytical  in  the  evening.  The 
same  subject  may  suit  both  town  and 
country  ;  but  for  country  folk  it  may  be 
wise  to  recast  your  material.  In  this  ques- 
tion, therefore,  I  cannot  help  thinking  that 
each  man  must  work  out  his  own  answer. 
Personal  capacity  must  be  allowed  a  place  in 
determining  such  matters.  But  I  think  that 
he  is  best  equipped  who  is  capable  of  dealing 
with  various  subjects  in  various  ways,  and 
can  be  analytical  or  synthetical  as  necessity 
arises.  For  such  a  man  will  be  able  to  break 
the  bread  as  his  people  are  able  to  receive 
it.  For  him  there  are  more  ways  than  one 
to  reach  their  hearts  and  minds. 


136  Lectures  on  Preaching         lect. 

It  may  also  be  worth  remembering  that 
all  habits  and  customs  have  a  reflex  effect. 
We  first  form  our  own  habits,  and  we  then 
become   their  victims.     This  being   so,  it 
is    always  well   to    consider  what  possible 
effect  this  or  that  habit  may  have  on  our 
characters.      It    may    seem   too    serious    a 
consideration  to  import  into  a  small  matter 
like  this   of  method  in  sermon -structure, 
and  I  certainly  do  not  wish  to  import  high 
moral   significance   into    a   question   which 
is    mainly    intellectual ;    but,    nevertheless, 
method   seems  to    me    largely   like    habit, 
and  our  intellectual   activity   may   be  de- 
pendent  in  some  degree  upon  our   choice 
of  methods.     To  be  in  the  habit  of  using 
only  one  method  may  result   in  sameness 
and   monotony.     Diversity,   on   the    other 
hand,   leads  to  freshness.      New   methods 
have  in  themselves   new  interest.      There 
is  less   chance   of  the  mind  growing  stale 


IV  Lectures  on  Preaching  137 

when  we  exercise  it  in  well-selected  variety 
of  method.  Strong  men,  with  free  and 
fresh  minds,  can  after  long  practice  infuse 
their  own  freshness  into  the  one  method 
which  they  have  made  their  own ;  but,  till 
you  have  made  your  own  method  and 
established  your  own  strength,  I  think 
that  it  will  be  a  wholesome  discipline  to 
practise  yourselves  in  more  than  one 
method. 

But  whatever  plan  you  follow,  there  is 
one  principle  which  should,  I  think,  guide 
you,  and  which  I  might  venture  to  describe 
as  an  indispensable  and  governing  principle 
in  all  sermon-preparation,  and  that  is  the 
principle  of  unity.  I  know  that  the 
affectation  of  observing  the  unities  has 
met  with  well -deserved  ridicule.  That 
pompous  and  ignorant  patron  of  the  pro- 
vincial drama  whom  Nicholas  Nickleby 
encountered    will    occur    to    your    minds. 


138  Lectures  on  Preaching         lect. 

But  over  and  above  the  absurdities  and 
affectation  which  brought  the  pedantic 
preaching  of  the  unities  into  contempt, 
there  is  virtue  in  the  principle  which 
demands  harmony  of  conception  and 
true  coherence  and  consistency  in  our 
work. 

Beauty  consists  very  largely  in  the 
happy  subordination  of  all  details  to  some 
leading  idea.  The  gift  is  less  than  the  altar. 
The  thought  and  purpose  must  dominate 
every  part  of  the  discourse.  Fenelon 
speaks  strongly  on  this  point,  though  we 
may  not  approve  of  the  illustration  he 
uses.  His  illustration  is  a  contrast  be- 
tween Greek  and  Gothic  architecture.  The 
Gothic  appears  to  him  to  be  overweighted 
with  ornament.  He  prefers  the  severe 
simplicity  and  abiding  unity  of  Greek 
architecture.  We  may  not  bow  to 
his  architectural  opinion,  but  we  shall  all 


IV  Lectures  on  Preaching  139 

accept  the  principle  that  everything  which 
tends  to  divert  the  mind  from  the  leading 
purpose  of  the  work  is  a  sign  of  bad 
taste  in  the  workman.  This  is  only  the 
proper  realisation  of  fitness  and  proportion. 
When  Maclise  heard  a  person  break  into 
loud  admiration  of  some  small  object  in 
the  foreground  of  his  picture,  he  felt 
that  the  praise  was  in  truth  blame.  He 
was  sorry  to  hear  it,  and  forthwith  he 
painted  out  the  offending  object.  The 
trifle  had  no  right  to  be  there  if  it  so 
arrested  the  eye  of  the  spectator.  It 
marred  the  composition  of  the  whole. 
That  is  tasteful  which  carries  one  thought 
or  one  idea,  and  carries  it  pleasingly,  to 
eye  and  heart.  Bad  taste  in  dress  is  dis- 
tracting ostentation  in  details.  Good  taste 
demands  harmony.  The  apparel  must  be 
in  harmony  with  something.  "  Dress  in 
the   colour  of  your  eyes,"  is  the   counsel 


140  Lectures  on  Preaching         lect. 

of  some  experts.  Gounod  used  to  say  of 
the  candidates  who  came  to  have  their 
voices  tried,  "  I  see  it  in  their  eyes  :  one 
always  has  the  voice  of  one's  eyes."  All 
these  examples  point  in  the  same  direction. 
That  which  is  natural  and  beautiful  is 
under  the  rule  of  some  predominant  note. 
Vulgarity  in  art,  in  dress,  in  all  workman- 
ship, is  the  ostentatious  and  distracting 
disregard  of  this  principle.  Therefore  let 
the  sermon,  whatever  tones  it  utters  and 
through  whatever  changes  it  moves,  be 
always  governed  by  some  one  ruling 
thought,  purpose,  and  aim. 

This  does  not  mean  that  the  sermon 
need  be  tame.  It  only  means  that  all 
arguments,  information,  and  appeals  should 
cohere  and  should  gather  round  one  central 
leading  thought,  as  in  the  prophet's  vision 
the  bones  were  gathered  into  human  forms. 
Though  there  were  many  bones,  they  were 


IV  Lectures  on  Preaching  141 

all  so  drawn  together  that  they  built  up, 
not  formless  things,  but  men.  So  should 
a  sermon,  with  whatever  material  it  be 
made,  yet  be  fashioned  into  that  which 
proclaims  itself  as  a  clear  and  intelligible 
message.  I  have  sometimes  thought,  in- 
deed, that  a  sermon  ought  to  be  a  kind  of 
syllogism  ;  and  I  still  believe  that,  taken 
in  a  large  sense,  there  is  truth  in  the 
thought.  In  the  syllogism  there  is  the 
major  premiss,  the  minor  premiss,  and  the 
conclusion.  The  sermon  should  corre- 
spond. There  is  some  truth,  a  truth  which 
you  have  seen  as  a  truth  of  God,  and 
which  you  desire  to  make  clear  to  your 
people.  This  is,  as  it  were,  your  major 
premiss.  But  this  is  not  enough.  The 
medium  through  which  alone  you  can 
speak  to  people  is  the  medium  of  their 
own  experience.  Till  you  can  bring  your 
truth   into   correspondence  with   this    you 


142  Lectures  on  breaching         lect. 

speak  in  vain.  You  must  speak  in  the 
language  they  understand  ;  and  the  lan- 
guage they  understand  is  the  language  of 
the  life  and  of  the  heart,  of  the  inward  and 
outward  experiences  of  existence.  The 
truth  may  be  divine,  but  the  audience  is 
human  ;  and  in  order  that  the  truth  may 
reach  men,  you  must  bring  it  to  them 
through  that  which  they  know  and  under- 
stand. Besides  divine  truth,  you  need  to 
remember  human  experience.  In  this 
latter  you  have  your  minor  premiss.  A 
sermon  should  link  together  divine  truth 
and  human  experience,  and  from  these 
should  enforce  its  application  as  an  irre- 
sistible conclusion.  You  will  not,  of 
course,  be  so  foolish  as  to  suppose  that 
I  am  commending  to  you  a  hard,  dry, 
syllogistic  structure.  True  art  conceals 
itself.  What  is  needful  is  that  you  should 
be  careful  to  realise  and  keep  clear  in  your 


IV  Lectures  on  Preaching  143 

minds  the  truth  you  wish  to  enforce,  and 
that  you  should  carry  this  truth  into  the 
range  of  the  human  life  of  your  audience. 
The  recognition  that  this  is  your  work  and 
duty  will  perhaps  give  you  the  line  and 
direction  which  you  can  follow.  It  will 
furnish  you  with  a  principle  which  you  can 
carry  into  your  preparation.  It  may  facili- 
tate the  arrangement  of  your  material.  It 
will  at  least  start  you  in  the  right  track  in 
selecting  fitting  material.  For  if  there  be 
no  truth  of  the  divine  kingdom  which  you 
have  to  tell,  then  what  message  of  God 
have  you  to  give  ?  If  there  be  no  human 
experience  with  which  you  can  associate 
this  truth,  where  is  your  message  for  man .? 
Or  how  can  you  bring  conscience  and  heart 
under  your  influence  unless  the  tones  of 
heaven  and  earth  mingle  in  your  sermon .? 
Without  the  human  experience,  the  sermon 
runs  the  risk  of  becoming  hard  and  dog- 


144  Lectures  on  Preaching         lect. 

matic.  Without  the  divine  truth,  it  will 
only  deal  out  flabby  humanities.  St. 
Chrysostom  was  great  both  in  his  knowledge 
of  the  Bible  and  of  men.  He  was  a  master 
in  the  art  of  blending  the  divine  truth 
with  human  experience.  We  do  well  to 
remember  that  we  are  called  to  be 
"  divines."  None  the  less  let  us  remember 
how  true  it  is  that  we  can  only  touch 
humanity  by  being  human.  If  I  have 
carried  your  thoughts  thus  far  with  me, 
you  will  follow  me  when  I  say  that  the 
ideal  and  warrant  of  this  principle  is  found 
in  our  Lord  Himself.  After  well-nigh 
nineteen  hundred  years  of  preaching,  Jesus 
Christ  Himself  still  remains  the  one  sermon 
for  the  world.  He  is  the  convincing  ideal 
of  life,  embodying  in  Himself  that  which 
lays  hold  upon  the  conscience  and  meets 
the  heart  of  humanity.  In  Himself  He 
unites  the  living  divine  truth  and  the  living 


IV  Lectures  on  ^reaching  145 

human  experience  ;  therefore  He  is  supreme 
in  the  spirits  of  men.  If  we  wish  our 
sermons  to  be  reflections  of  Him  to  our 
people,  we  shall  make  them  resemble  Him 
in  this,  that  the  divine  and  the  human 
shall  both  find  place  in  them.  In  Him 
divine  truth  expressed  itself  in  human 
form.  His  incarnation  gives  us  a  message 
of  method  which  has  often  been  forgotten 
in  doctrinaire  ages,  when  opinion  was  mis- 
•  taken  for  faith  and  philosophy  for  religion. 
Against  this  His  incarnation  has  borne 
witness  ;  and  the  last  who  should  reduce 
their  sermons  to  theological  essays  or 
metaphysical  speculations,  the  last  who 
should  forget  that  true  Christianity  appeals 
to  human  nature  in  its  loftiest  aspirations 
and  in  its  deepest  and  most  sorrowful 
experiences,  are  those  who  realise  the  true 
divinity  and  perfect  humanity  of  Him  who 
was  Son  of  God  as  well   as   Son  of  man. 


146  Lectures  on  Preaching         lect. 

If  in  our  sermons  we  set  Him  forth  to  our 
people  as  He  truly  is,  in  His  strength  and 
in  His  sympathy,  if  our  sermons  reflect 
Him  and  preach  Him,  we  shall  reach  men's 
spirits,  for  they  will  thus  be  drawn  unto 
Him. 

The  framework  of  the  sermon,  then, 
should  obey  some  principle  of  unity.  But 
the  framework  is  not  everything.  When 
the  bones  have  been  knit  together  so  as  to 
present  an  articulate  form,  they  needs  must 
be  clothed  with  flesh.  The  outline  of  a  ser- 
mon is  a  skeleton  at  the  best.  We  have  still 
to  clothe  our  thoughts  in  language.  And 
here  the  first  requirement  is  that  language 
should  be  fit  and  appropriate.  Now  good 
and  useful  thoughts  may  appear  in  feeble, 
meagre,  and  unworthy  form.  It  is  possible 
so  to  vest  our  thoughts  that  they  shall  be 
concealed  rather  than  revealed.  The  first 
condition  of  fitness  of  speech  is  clearness. 


IV  Lectures  on  Preaching  147 

It  is  the  fashion  (why,  I  know  not)  among 
young  ladies  who  sing  to  be  inarticulate. 
We  may  hear  the  voice  but  not  the  speech 
of  her  who  sings.  One  is  tempted  to  ask 
why,  when  words  are  wedded  to  music, 
they  should  be  denied  their  natural  rights, 
or  why,  when  words  are  made  eloquent  in 
melody,  the  power  of  their  eloquence  should 
be  lost  by  their  becoming  inaudible.  It  is 
satisfactory  to  find  Gounod  remarking  that 
pure  diction  is  the  first  law  of  song.  We 
may  echo  this  view  with  regard  to  the 
sermon.  Clear  language — language,  that 
is,  which  carries  its  own  meaning  straight, 
and  without  starting  side -puzzles  in  the 
minds  of  our  hearers — is  the  first  condition 
of  fitness  of  language.  From  this  it  will 
follow  that  what  is  simple  and  natural  is 
best.  The  ambition  of  grand  or  high- 
sounding  words  is  a  poor  ambition,  and 
like  most  mean  ambitions  it  defeats  itself. 


148  Lectures  on  Preaching         lect. 

Let  us  avoid  the  example  of  the  clergyman 
who  counselled  the  boys,  to  whom  he  was 
preaching  on  the  subject  of  mirth  or  cheer- 
fulness— "  Let  your  mirth  be  as  the  asstival 
electricity,  lambent,  but  innocuous."  Talk 
English  and  not  Johnsonese.  Let  your 
thought  govern  your  language,  and  not 
your  language  your  thought  ;  and  for  this 
purpose  give  your  thought  its  natural 
expression.  Do  not  let  your  minnows  talk 
like  whales.  Is  your  thought  simple  ?  Be 
content  with  simple  words.  Is  your 
thought  noble  .^  Then  simple  language 
most  nobly  drapes  it.  If  you  use  lofty 
and  dignified  language,  let  it  be  because 
the  thought  itself  insensibly  lifts  your  style 
to  a  loftier  range.  The  glory  of  the  white 
crests  upon  the  ocean  wave  lies  not  in  their 
froth  and  foam,  but  in  the  fact  that  they 
are  lifted  high  by  the  great  insurgent  mass 
of  resistless  waters  which  roll  them  towards 


IV  Lectures  on  Preaching  149 

the  shore.  They  are  like  the  shaggy  mane 
upon  some  lion's  neck,  great  because  they 
speak  of  a  lion's  strength.  Words,  in  like 
manner,  have  no  greatness  in  themselves, 
but  in  the  thoughts  below  them.  As  these 
grow  full  and  strong  our  language  will 
grow  nervous,  tense,  eloquent.  The  culti- 
vation of  word -worship  is  the  decay  of 
thought.  The  ambition  of  word-painting 
is  a  small  one,  and  must  thwart  true 
eloquence  ;  for  if  your  thoughts  be  not 
eloquent  your  words  will  only  mock  them. 

Briefly  let  me  give  you  a  few  words 
of  counsel  on  this  matter.  Keep  clearly 
before  your  mind  the  end  you  have  in 
view.  Make  straight  for  it.  You  will 
thus  be  kept  from  rambling  too  far  into 
tempting  but  irrelevant  fields,  and  you  will 
not  greatly  covet  the  golden  apples  on 
which  magniloquent  men  waste  their  time. 

Be  direct.    Write  as  if  you  were  writing 


150  Lectures  on  Preaching         lect. 

a  letter  to  a  friend  rather  than  as  if  you 
were  writing  an  essay.  I  mean  put  the 
personal  feeling,  personal  interest,  and  per- 
sonal conviction  into  it.  Try  and  realise 
that  your  object  is  to  persuade,  to  instruct, 
to  help,  and  to  edify.  You  are  not  writing 
for  a  professor's  eye  ;  there  is  no  prize  at 
stake,  except  this — the  prize  of  being  able 
to  help  some  anxious,  sorrowful,  or  per- 
plexed heart.  Let  your  wish  be  to  say 
what  you  have  to  say  so  that  it  may  bring 
food  to  that  hungry  heart,  and  you  will 
surely  fall  into  a  natural  and  unaffected 
style  of  address. 

Lastly,  if  you  are  to  look  for  models, 
find  them  in  speeches  rather  than  in 
sermons.  You  will  gain  more  by  reading 
John  Bright's  speeches  than  by  reading 
Blair's  sermons.  The  object  of  the  sermon 
is  not  to  produce  a  dissertation  which  will 
be    praised    for    its  elegance  of  tone    and 


IV  Lectures  on  Preaching  151 

phrase,  but  to  say  something  which  will 
move  men.  Those  men  who  have  known 
how  to  speak  clearly,  directly,  earnestly, 
are  our  best  guides  here  ;  and  in  this  there 
are  few  better  than  John  Bright. 

For  the  sermon,  then,  we  need  material, 
order,  language — the  bones,  the  framework, 
the  flesh.  But  this  is  not  all.  There  yet 
remains — perhaps  more  important  than  all 
else — the  moment  when  the  sermon  is  to 
become  a  living  thing  among  men.  The 
sermon  has  to  be  preached.  We  touch 
here  the  question  of  delivery.  It  is  im- 
possible to  evade  the  often  discussed 
claims  of  written  and  spoken  sermons. 
The  debate  on  this  matter  seems  not 
always  to  have  been  wisely  conducted. 
King  Charles  II. 's  order  to  your  University 
on  the  subject  was  one  of  those  foolish 
acts  which  show  how  easy  it  is  to 
forget    that    all    gifts    are    not    the    same. 


152  Lectures  on  Preaching         lect. 

God  gives  to  one  man  after  this  manner, 
and  to  another  after  that.  It  is  a  great 
mistake  to  suppose  that  there  is  not  room 
for  both  methods.  It  seems  to  me  foolish 
not  to  realise  that  however  good  the 
written  or  spoken  plan  may  be,  it  cannot 
be  good  that  either  should  claim  to 
be  regarded  as  the  only  method.  Good 
and  eminent  men  have  preached  written 
sermons.  Good  and  eminent  men  have 
preached  what  are  called  extempore 
sermons.  There  is  much  to  be  said  on 
both  sides.  There  is  deliberation,  caution, 
protection  against  some  rash  phrase,  the 
opportunity  of  literary  polish,  in  the 
written  sermon. 

On  the  other  side,  let  me  give  you  two 
opinions.  Professor  Butcher,  in  his  Aspects 
of  the  Greek  Genius,  says  :  "  How  few  men 
write  like  themselves  and  give  us  a  true 
impression    of  what   they   are.     Once    on 


IV  Lectures  on  Preaching  153 

paper,  men  are  apt  to  lose  their  own  char- 
acter, and  either  to  become  neutral  and 
impersonal,  or  to  take  unconsciously  a  ficti- 
tious personality."  There  is  force  in  this. 
There  is  a  self-consciousness  which,  once 
awake,  thwarts  and  criticises,  and  so  dis- 
turbs the  full  expression  of  our  thoughts 
and  of  ourselves  when  we  take  the  pen. 
Insensibly  the  personal  and  intellectual 
attitude  shifts.  We  tend  to  become 
critical,  doubtful  ;  we  no  longer  think  so 
much  of  persuading  others  as  of  justify- 
ing ourselves.  The  persons  addressed 
are  less  to  us  than  the  thing  we  write. 
From  this  it  would  follow  that  if  we 
write  our  sermons  it  is  of  moment  that 
we  should  at  least  try  to  escape  the 
tyranny  of  the  written  style,  and  en- 
deavour to  write  as  though  we  were 
speaking  to  a  friend. 

My  next   citation   is  from  Archdeacon 


154  Lectures  on  ^reaching         lect. 

Hare,  who  wrote  :  "  What  do  our  clergy- 
lose  by  reading  their  sermons  ?  They  lose 
preaching  ;  the  preaching  of  the  voice  in 
many  cases,  the  preaching  of  the  eye 
almost  always."  The  significance  of  this 
is  that  the  force  of  a  man's  personality 
is  weakened.  Both  the  citations  point  in 
the  same  direction.  The  spoken  sermon 
seems  to  bring  the  man  himself  into  closer 
contact  with  the  people.  The  manuscript 
acts  like  a  screen  and  seems  to  keep  the 
fire  off.  A  man  needs  a  great  deal  of 
personal  force  and  fire  to  make  himself 
felt  through  it.  There  have  been  such 
men  ;  but  it  is  a  rare  gift  to  be  able  so 
to  realise  the  people  when  you  are  alone 
in  your  study  that  you  can  write  as  though 
you  were  pleading  with  them  face  to  face. 

There  is  another  condition  which  must 
not  be  overlooked.  The  time,  place,  and 
presence  of  the  audience  create  conditions 


IV  Lectures  on  Preaching  155 

very  difFerent  from  those  under  which  the 
sermon  has  been  prepared.  The  thoughts 
and  truths  to  be  spoken  may  remain  fit 
and  appropriate  ;  but  the  written  language 
may  not  meet  the  occasion.  Another 
mood  may  be  on  the  preacher ;  he  is  re- 
sponding to  the  sympathy  of  the  moment 
and  to  the  subtle  unspoken  appeal  of  the 
people  who  are  there.  The  machine  which 
worked  well  enough  in  the  cool  tempera- 
ture of  the  study  will  not  work  in  the 
temperature  which  the  sense  of  common 
need  and  sympathy  has  heightened.  As  he 
reads  his  sermon  the  preacher  feels  that  in 
his  present  mood,  though  he  would  have 
written  this  truth,  he  would  not  have  written 
it  thus.  But  not  being  accustomed  to  speak 
he  cannot  modify  his  language,  or  bring  his 
utterance  into  harmony  with  the  needs  of 
the  moment.  The  power  of  personal  com- 
munion between  a  man   and   his  audience 


156  Lectures  on  Preaching         lect. 

is  inexplicable,  but  real.  The  bond  of 
common  life  is  felt,  and  it  kindles  the  soul. 
Responsive  sympathy  wakes  intelligence, 
memory,  and  love.  The  preacher  enters 
into  the  spirit  of  his  hearers.  He  speaks, 
and  they  in  their  turn  enter  into  his  spirit. 
It  is  something  at  such  moments  to  be  able 
to  adjust  your  speech  so  that  it  may  be  truth- 
ful to  the  hour  as  well  as  to  the  theme.  If 
you  are  truly  master  of  your  subject  and 
know  it,  as  a  skilful  captain  knows  every 
tide  and  current,  promontory  and  bay,  you 
will  be  able  to  shift  your  course  without 
departing  from  your  general  route,  to  seize 
and  use  the  changing  wind  and  more  suc- 
cessfully to  make  your  port. 

What  follows  from  these  considerations 
is  chiefly  this.  Let  the  written  sermon  be 
as  though  it  were  spoken,  and  the  extem- 
pore sermon  as  though  it  were  carefully 
written.     Let   the   spoken   sermon   be   the 


IV  Lectures  on  Preaching  157 

offspring  of  much  writing  and  much  study. 
Let  the  written  sermon  be  always  so  well 
mastered  and  so  familiar  that  it  may  be 
read  as  though  spoken.  Let  it  be  always 
written  with  the  remembrance  of  your 
people,  that  in  the  preaching  it  may  be 
as  the  communing  of  your  own  heart  with 
theirs.  As  you  write,  you  should  listen 
to  your  words  as  well  as  see  them,  should 
hear  them  as  though  spoken  in  the  church. 
You  must  escape  the  essay -feeling  ;  you 
will  thus  be  able  to  test  whether  you  are 
phrasing  and  fashioning  your  sermon  as 
the  simple  and  natural  outpouring  of  truth 
from  your  soul  to  their  souls.  In  this 
way  your  own  personality  will  enter  as 
a  living  thing  into  your  sermon. 

Here  I  might  end  were  there  not  one 
matter  more.  Our  personality  may  and 
should  live  in  our  sermons,  but  not  thus 
is    there    that    quickening    of  God  which 


158  Lectures  on  Preaching         lect. 

we    most    desire.      The    imagery    of    the 

prophet  will  help  us  here.     After  he  had 

prophesied    to    the    bones,   and    the   bones 

had  come  together,  bone  to  his  bone,  and 

flesh  had  clothed  them,  so  that  they  began 

to  assume  their  human  form,  the  prophet 

was   bidden   once   more    to   prophesy,   not 

this    time    to    the   dead   men   at    his   feet, 

but  to  the  four  winds  of  heaven.     After 

you  have  gathered  your  material,  ordered 

it,  and  clothed    it  with  speech,  it   is    still 

your  poor  weak  effort,  strengthless  for  the 

higher  purpose  of  your  work.     You  need 

the  breath  of  the  Spirit  of  God  to  give  life 

to  your  message.     Around  you,  wherever 

you  are,  in  the  city  parish  or  in  the  scantily 

peopled  village,   there   is   the   presence   of 

that  Divine  Spirit   in  whom  we   live   and 

move    and    have    our    being.       From    all 

quarters,  and  in  every  lonely  or  crowded 

place,  does  the   Spirit  move  in  the  spirit 


IV  Lectures  on  Preaching  159 

of  man.  He  will  preach  best  who  prays 
most,  and  who  after  the  most  careful 
preparation  relies  not  on  self,  but  on  that 
Spirit  which  can  make  our  dead  thoughts 
to  live,  and  can  quicken  the  nerveless 
hearts  of  multitudes  till,  filled  with  the 
vital  force  of  heaven,  they  become  mighty 
forces  for  good,  and  stand  before  the  world 
an  exceeding  great  army  of  God. 


LECTURE   V 

I  WISH  to  speak  to  you  to-night  of  the 
preacher  in  relation  to  his  age.  We  may 
exaggerate  the  importance  of  our  own  age, 
or  we  may  despise  it.  Both  habits  are 
wrong.  Schiller's  saying  respecting  the 
poet  expresses  the  fitting  attitude  which  the 
wise  man  should  occupy  towards  his  own 
times  :  "The  poet  should  be  the  child  of  his 
age,  but  woe  to  him  if  he  be  its  favourite 
or  its  slave."  This  sets  forth  very  fitly  the 
relationship  of  any  man,  whether  prophet, 
preacher,  or  poet,  towards  his  times.  He 
should  be  "the  child  of  his  age."  We 
see  what  this  expresses.     Every  man  owes 


LECT.  V      Lectures  on  Preaching  i6i 

allegiance  to  his  age.  The  atmosphere 
which  he  breathes  is  that  of  the  age  in 
which  he  has  been  born.  He  is  the  son  of 
that  special  epoch.  He  owes  it  reverence  ; 
but  he  does  not  owe  it,  nor  any  age,  servile 
homage  or  thoughtless  flattery.  Reverence 
the  age  in  which  you  live,  but  do  not  dread 
it.  Yield  it  the  homage  which  all  those 
born  in  it  are  bound  to  give  it,  but  do 
not  be  enslaved  by  it.  To  put  this  in 
another  form,  you  must  be  in  your  age,  but 
you  must  not  be  wholly  of  it. 

Recognise  that  you  are  the  child  of  your 
age.     Resolve  not  to  be  its  slave. 

I.  Recognise  that  you  are  the  child  of 
your  age.  Therefore  reverence  it — learn  its 
language — understand  its  spirit. 

I .  Reverence  it.  It  is  a  common  tempta- 
tion to  pay  homage  to  any  other  age  than 
that  in  which  our  lot  is  cast.  We  look  wist- 
fully back  on  other  epochs  and  regret  that  our 

M 


1 62  Lecturer  on  Preaching         lect. 

lot  was  not  cast  in  them.  This  is  the  wish 
to  have  lived  in  any  century  than  the  one 
in  which  God  has  called  us  to  live.  Some 
think,  speak,  and  act  as  though  the  third  and 
fourth  centuries  of  our  era  were  the  only 
worthy  centuries  ;  others  have  hearts  only 
for  the  tenth  ;  to  others,  again,  the  sixteenth 
century  is  all  in  all ;  while  not  a  few  of  us 
have  postponed  our  worship  till  the  twentieth 
century  shall  have  brought  us  its  imagined 
good.  Why  should  we  thus  forget  or 
ignore  the  very  century  in  which  by 
God's  providence  we  were  born  .^  To  do 
this  is  a  blunder  and  to  forfeit  our  power 
of  influence.  It  is  a  blunder  to  do  so,  for, 
whether  we  like  it  or  not,  it  is  in  the  nine- 
teenth century,  and  in  no  other,  that  we  are 
living.  It  is  in  this  year  of  grace  that  our 
duty  is  to  be  found.  We  sigh.  Yes,  it 
must  be  so  ;  we  wish,  perhaps,  that  we  might 
have  lived  in  some  more  romantic   epoch 


V  Lectures  on  Preaching  163 

than  in  this  hard,  prosaic  nineteenth  century. 
But  here  again  we  make  a  mistake.  We  are 
carried  away  by  the  poetical  feeling  of  dis- 
tance and  we  clothe  other  ages  with  glory. 
In  matters  of  history  as  in  landscape — 

"  'Tis  distance  lends  enchantment  to  the  view, 
And  robes  the  mountain  in  its  azure  hue." 

No  age  was  romantic  to  the  people  who 
lived  in  it.  We  see  it  surrounded  with  the 
halo  which  memory,  story,  and  heart-stirring 
achievements  lend  to  it.  We  may  give  it 
a  place  far  loftier  than  that  which  belongs  to 
it  ;  and  we  may  overlook  the  romance  of 
our  own  day  visible  to  all  who  can  recognise 
the  possibilities  of  the  age  in  which  they 
live.  The  men  who  moved  their  age  were 
not  the  men  who  lived  in  dreamy  regrets  over 
the  romance  of  other  days  :  they  were  men 
alive  to  the  tendencies  of  their  own  era,  who 
perceived  its  dangers  and  its  prospects,  and 
who  sought  to  do  their  duty  in  it.     These 


164  Lectures  on  Preaching         lect. 

were  the  men  who  secured  greatness  for 
their  age.  If  we  are  to  serve  our  age  we 
must  learn  to  realise  its  possibilities  and  we 
must  study  its  characteristics.  We  cannot 
do  so,  if  we  indulge  in  comparisons  which 
tempt  us  to  despise  it.  Nay,  rather  let  us 
reverence  our  age,  as  the  age  in  which 
by  God's  providence  we  were  born.  Our 
work  lies  not  in  the  past,  but  in  the 
present.  Our  task  is  to  serve  our  genera- 
tion by  the  will  of  God.  We  can  aspire 
to  no  nobler  duty  than  this. 

Let  us  reverence  it  as  men  who  realise 
the  possibilities  of  the  age  in  which  they 
live.  It  is  easy,  in  seeking  to  praise  things 
which  are  far  off,  to  become  blind  to  the 
splendours  which  lie  at  our  feet  ;  but  we 
must  be  blind  indeed,  if  we  cannot  discern 
some  glory  in  our  own  times.  It  is 
no  age  of  twilight  slumber  in  which  we 
live.     It  is  an  age  in  which  the  horizon  of 


V  Lectures  on  F reaching  165 

knowledge  has  been  enlarged,  and  powers 
undreamed  of  have  been  put  into  our 
hands.  It  has  disclosed  to  us  the  order  and 
development  of  living  things.  It  has  with 
pickaxe  and  spade  disinterred  the  buried 
pages  of  the  earth's  story.  It  has  laid  open 
the  foundations  on  which  human  history  is 
reared.  It  has  demonstrated  the  common 
elements  out  of  which  the  universe  has 
been  built.  While  it  has  seemed  to  rob 
man  of  his  glory,  it  has  robed  him  with  a 
greater  glory  than  any  which  it  has  taken 
away.  With  the  same  breath  with  which 
it  taught  him  that  he  was  but  a  part  of 
nature,  it  has  told  him  how  great  a  part  of 
nature  he  is  and  how  truly  he  is  the  crown 
of  all  created  things.  It  is  an  age  not 
satisfied  to  rest  content  with  the  achieve- 
ments of  the  past — its  very  discontents 
witness  to  its  greatness,  and  to  its  capacity 
to    achieve   yet    greater   things.     It   is    an 


1 66  Lectures  on  Preaching         lect. 

age  in  which  a  strange  sadness  mingles 
with  an  unquenchable  hopefulness.  To 
minister  to  it  we  must  understand  its 
melancholy  and  sympathise  with  its  hope. 
We  must  be  able  to  console  and  to  encourage, 
to  banish  its  needless  regrets,  and  to  move 
forward  with  it  in  its  march  of  conquest 
and  of  hope — nay,  to  do  more,  to  point 
forward  to  the  Shekinah  light  which  moves 
before  it,  and  to  sustain  it  with  the  faith 
which  grows  out  of  faith  in  God,  that  "  to- 
morrow will  be  as  to-day  and  much  more 
abundant."  For  the  past  with  its  heritage 
of  knowledge  is  ours,  and  the  future  advances 
towards  us  with  hands  laden  with  gifts.  We 
are  as  those  to  whom  is  given  the  wisdom 
of  age  and  the  elasticity  of  youth. 

"We  are  ancients  of  the  Earth 
And  in  the  morning  of  the  Times." 

Reverence   your   age,   but    reverence    it 
with  the  homage  of  truth,  for  in  no  better 


V  Lectures  on  Preaching  167 

way  can  you  serve  your  age  or  render 
it  reverence  than  by  showing  that  your 
reverence  for  it  is  second  to,  and  so 
safeguarded  by,  your  reverence  for  truth. 
Even  in  the  sacred  calling  which  is  to  be 
yours  there  is  temptation  to  suppress  truth 
out  of  deference  to  the  prejudices  of  our 
age.  If  we  are  the  children  of  our  age  we 
must  take  heed  lest  we  become  its  slaves. 

But  here  there  are  two  temptations  to 
which  we  are  exposed.  First  there  is  the 
temptation  to  state  as  truth  what  is  really 
only  an  exaggerated  phantom  of  what  is  true. 
The  jackal  precedes  the  lion,  but  the  jackal 
is  not  the  lion.  To  outrun  truth  is  not 
truthfulness.  The  growing  light  of  know- 
ledge and  criticism  is  not  equally  distributed 
over  men's  minds.  Many  are  blind  to  the 
new  aspects  of  truth.  Many  cling  to  their 
prejudices  as  though  they  were  undoubted 
truths.       But    the    exaggeration    of    new 


1 68  Lectures  on  Preaching  lect. 

aspects  of  truth  is  not  a  real  remedy  for 
this  state  of  things.  We  cannot  hope  to 
diminish  prejudice  by  accentuating  oppo- 
site views.  To  insult  prejudice  is  not  to 
dispel  it.  The  second  temptation  leads 
us  in  the  opposite  direction.  We  may  be 
tempted  to  suppress  what  we  feel  to  be  true 
out  of  an  ignoble  fear.  These  are  tempta- 
tions which  we  may  meet.  They  are  felt  with 
special  acuteness  in  an  age  of  rapid  move- 
ment and  accumulated  discoveries.  Under 
these  circumstances  what  ought  to  be  the 
attitude  of  the  teacher  who  desires  to  be  faith- 
ful to  himself  and  to  truth,  and  also  to  help, 
not  damage,  the  faith  of  his  people.?  He 
cannot  be  other  than  open-eyed  towards 
truth.  Honesty  and  earnestness  demand 
this.  He  cannot  be  other  than  gentle  and 
considerate  towards  the  weak  and  the  igno- 
rant. His  compassion  and  his  zeal  for  their 
spiritual  and  moral  progress  necessitate  this. 


V  Lectures  on  Preaching  169 

Shall  he  then  exercise  a  kind  of  reserve 
in  his  teaching  ?  If  by  this  is  meant  that 
he  should  ever  allow  himself  to  state  as  true 
what  he  believes  to  be  untrue,  or  to  declare 
to  be  untrue  what  he  is  persuaded  is  true, 
then  our  answer  must  be,  no  such  reserve  is 
possible  to  an  honest  man.  Such  reserve 
is  an  ignoble  reserve.  Never,  therefore, 
exercise  any  reserve  with  regard  to  anything 
which  is  true,  when  it  is  your  bounden  duty 
to  speak.  But  at  the  same  time  we  may 
remember  that  it  is  not  our  duty  to  speak 
of  every  conceivable  aspect  of  truth.  As 
honest  men  we  shall  say  nothing  that  we 
are  not  persuaded  is  true  ;  as  wise  men 
regardful  of  the  real  purpose  of  our  ministry, 
there  may  be  many  true  things  of  which 
we  shall  not  speak.  There  may  be  many 
matters  of  interest  on  which  we  may  have 
adopted  what  are  called  new  views  ;  we 
may  be   persuaded   of  the   truth  of  these 


170  Lectures  on  Preaching  lect, 

views  ;  but  we  are  not  called  to  be  exponents 
of  every  new  thing  even  if  it  be  true.  While 
truth  is  to  be  spoken,  the  use  of  edifying 
should  be  remembered. 

To  act  on  this  principle  protects  us  on 
the  one  side  from  being  untrue  to  our- 
selves, and  on  the  other  from  flinging 
broadcast  among  our  people  theories  which 
may  prove  to  be  little  more  than  our 
crude  paraphrases  of  other  men's  doubtful 
speculations.  Be  truthful  with  both  the 
courage  and  the  reticence  of  truth.  You 
will  be  the  more  desirous  of  this  if  you 
realise  that  you  are  living  in  a  scientific 
age.  You  will  be  resolute  in  this  principle 
if  you  remember  that  you  are  little  likely 
to  glorify  God,  or  to  help  forward  the  wel- 
fare of  your  people,  or  the  cause  of  religion, 
either  by  suppressing  any  needful  truth,  or 
by  entering  upon  discussions  which  are 
outside    your    province.       But    there    are 


V  Lectures  on  Preaching  171 

matters  of  which  we  must  speak,  and  in 
treating  of  which  we  cannot  avoid  the 
realms  of  critical  and  scientific  inquiry. 
We  cannot  without  cowardice  or  insincerity 
skilfully  evade  every  subject  about  which 
old  and  new  views  are  in  conflict.  Then 
we  must  not  hesitate  to  speak  what  appears 
to  us  to  be  true.  But  here  again  our  duty 
is  to  be  mindful  of  our  people's  welfare. 
It  is  possible  in  the  exposition  of  our  views 
to  state  what  we  believe,  in  an  aggressive 
and  offensive  fashion.  It  is  possible  to  pur- 
sue a  destructive  method  ;  but  it  is  always 
wiser  and  better  to  follow  a  constructive 
one.  He  who  does  so  will  succeed  in  being 
instructive.  The  real  danger  arises  when 
the  teacher  of  new  truth  speaks  as  though 
this  new  truth  were  the  only  truth,  and 
makes  no  effort  to  show  that  the  new  truth 
is  related  to  principles  and  convictions 
which  enter  into  the  hearts  and  lives  and 


172  Lectures  on  Preaching  lect. 

minds  of  men.  If  you  are  preaching  on 
a  passage  drawn  from  some  book  of  the 
Bible,  the  date  of  which  is  earlier  or  later 
than  has  been  popularly  supposed,  do  not 
begin  your  sermon  by  announcing  that  the 
date  at  the  heading  of  this  book  is  "  all 
wrong."  Do  not  abruptly  declare  that  all 
the  views  which  have  ever  been  held  by 
anybody  on  the  subject  have  been  "con- 
clusively proved  to  be  incorrect."  I  call 
that  a  brutal  way  of  dealing  with  the  sub- 
ject. Your  statement  about  the  date  may 
be  true  in  itself,  but  if  you  stun  people 
whom  you  wish  to  persuade,  they  will  find 
it  hard  to  understand  your  arguments.  It 
is  quite  possible,  and  it  is  much  better,  to 
approach  the  same  subject  in  a  different 
way.  It  is  always  our  duty  to  give  the 
spiritual  teaching  a  foremost  place.  All 
critical  and  exegetical  matters  should  lead 
up  to  this.    We  may  explain,  we  may  draw 


V  Lectures  on  Preaching  173 

the  picture  of  the  manners  and  customs 
which  the  passage  demands,  we  may  set 
forth  the  historical  background,  but  the 
higher  purpose  should  maintain  the  supreme 
place  in  our  thoughts.  When  this  is  the 
case,  questions  of  debate  and  controversy 
will  be  more  or  less  lightly  touched  ;  and 
they  will  be  set  out  in  a  constructive  way. 
We  shall  not  be  as  one  who  knocks  the 
crutch  from  the  lame  man's  arm  before  he 
has  given  him  something  better  to  walk 
with.  Be  truthful  enough,  moreover,  to  be 
sometimes  alive  to  your  ignorance.  Do 
not  be  afraid  to  acknowledge  that  there  are 
some  matters  which  are  as  yet  beyond  your 
range.  It  requires  some  courage  to  con- 
fess this,  but  if  truthfulness  be  our  rule 
there  may  be  times  when  this  course  will 
be  the  only  one  open  to  us.  This  de- 
termination will  save  us  from  dealing 
precipitately,   and    therefore   crudely,  with 


174  Lectures  on  Preaching         lect- 

questions  which  we  have  not  studied. 
There  are  plenty  of  questions  connected 
with  science,  Biblical  criticism,  and  socio- 
logy on  which  we  can  exercise  self-denial 
and  patience  and  forbearance.  Do  not 
be  impetuous — still  more,  do  not  yield 
to  the  impulse  which  takes  pleasure  in 
frightening  the  dull  and  limited  minds  of 
worthy  folk  with  startling  statements.  A 
clergyman  should  not  behave  like  a  school- 
boy, who  lets  off  fireworks  for  the  pleasure 
of  causing  a  panic.  Such  a  disposition  does 
not  contribute  to  the  advance  of  truth  :  it 
does  not  promote  the  spirit  of  confidence 
and  mutual  respect  which  should  exist  be- 
tween you  and  your  people.  At  the  same 
time,  cultivate  the  spirit  of  candour.  Show 
that  you  are  awake  to  all  the  messages  of 
God  from  whatever  source  they  come,  for 
God  speaks  through  many  books — the 
book  of  nature  and  the  book  of  history,  as 


V  Lectures  on  Preaching  175 

well  as  the  books  of  the  Bible  ;  and  besides 
these,  He  has  given  us  the  ever-open  book 
of  the  human  heart.  Whatever  of  truth 
comes  to  us  from  these  books,  do  not  be 
afraid  to  trust  it.  In  the  long  run  there 
will  be  no  contradictory  message  from 
them.  At  any  rate,  to  all  of  them  must 
our  ears  be  open  if  we  are  to  minister 
with  reverent  truthfulness  to  our  own 
generation. 

2.  To  carry  out  your  ministry  efficiently 
you  must  do  more  than  reverence  your 
age,  you  must  also  learn  its  language  and 
understand  its  spirit.  Learn  its  language. 
I  need  not  remind  you  that  language  slowly 
undergoes  a  process  of  change.  The  speech 
of  one  age  is  not  as  the  speech  of  the  pre- 
ceding age.  I  cannot  help  thinking  that 
this  fact  is  not  sufficiently  realised  by 
teachers  and  preachers.  There  is  often  as 
much   difference  between   the   language  of 


176  Lectures  on  Preaching  lect. 

one  age  and  that  of  another,  as  there  is 
between  one  provincial  dialect  and  another. 
It  would  have  been  as  hard  for  the  English- 
man of  the  Stuart  period  to  understand  the 
Englishman  of  Chaucer's  day  as  it  is  for  the 
peasant  of  Norfolk  to  understand  the  York- 
shire dalesman.  The  preacher  must  needs 
be  alive  to  the  changes  of  speech  and 
phrase  which  have  taken  place  and  still  are 
taking  place.  I  once  listened  to  a  good 
sermon,  which  was  at  the  same  time  singu- 
larly ineffective,  for  the  simple  reason  that 
its  language  was  the  language  of  fifty 
years  ago.  There  was  nothing  to  object 
to  in  the  language  itself,  except  that  it 
abounded  in  phrases  which  have  lost  their 
force,  and  are  almost  meaningless  in  our 
ears.  If  we  are  to  avoid  ineffectiveness  we 
must  speak  the  speech  of  our  own  day. 
In  our  studies  we  are  apt  to  catch  the 
style  and  to  adopt  the  phraseology  of  our 


V  Lectures  on  Preaching  177 

favourite  authors  ;  we  are  apt  to  forget  that 
the  language  of  our  most  excellent  and 
rightly  approved  theological  writers  often 
needs  translation,  if  it  is  to  be  a  living 
language  to  our  people.  Would  any  con- 
gregation of  the  present  day  really  appre- 
ciate a  sermon  cast  in  the  style  of  Hooker, 
Bishop  Andrewes,  or  Bishop  Hall,  or  even 
Jeremy  Taylor  ?  They  are  excellent 
masters,  if  you  will,  but  they  spoke  to  the 
men  of  their  generation,  and  we  have  to 
speak  to  the  men  of  ours.  To  use  their 
style,  however  excellent,  is  to  lose  touch 
with  our  people,  and  with  it  the  power  of 
reaching  their  intelligence.  The  Church 
of  England  has  followed  the  Apostolic 
rule  of  enjoining  on  her  ministers  that  they 
are  to  use  "  a  language  understanded  of 
the  people."  The  spirit  of  this  principle 
throws  upon  us  the  duty  of  seeing  that  the 
people  do  understand  us,  and  that  we  spare 

N 


178  Lectures  on  Preaching  lect. 

no  pains  that  what  we  say  shall  come  to 
them  in  language  which  is  effective,  because 
it  is  the  language  of  their  hearts  and  of 
their  homes. 

Now  it  does  not  seem  a  difficult  task 
which  is  thus  set  us.  Our  power  to  do 
it  will  depend  chiefly  on  two  things — the 
observance  of  a  due  proportion  in  our 
studies,  and  the  cultivation  of  close  and 
friendly  intercourse  with  our  people.  It 
will  be  necessary  to  give  our  studies  their 
true  proportion.  If  we  confine  our  studies 
to  one  class  of  subjects  or  one  kind  of 
writer,  we  lose  the  sense  of  the  relative 
value  of  matters.  It  is  by  comparison  that 
we  judge  distances  and  perceive  qualities. 
Students  who  bury  themselves  in  one  set  of 
^  studies  lose  the  power  of  discrimination. 
They  are  tempted  to  regard  their  one  sub- 
ject as  sufficient  for  all  knowledge.  They 
give    it    authority    beyond    its    province. 


V  Lectures  on  Preaching  179 

Whatever   question    arises,    they   seek    for 
an  answer  in  their  favourite  author,  or  in 
their  one  row  of  volumes.     They  become 
learned  in  one  department  of  knowledge, 
but  their  learning  is  pedantic  and  useless 
because  it  is  unaccompanied  by  that  general 
breadth   of  view  which    keeps   men    from 
injudicious  applications.     Cultivate  a  wide 
and  healthy  breadth  in  your  studies.     Be 
acquainted  with  the  past  ;  be  alive  to  the 
present  ;    and    use    all    knowledge    in    its 
place    and    season.      Do    not    take    your 
science  from  the  Fathers,  nor  your  theology 
from  some  modern  novel.     Remember  the 
true  end  in  all  your  studies.     When  you 
read  your  Bible,  you  read  it  to  search  out 
the   principles    of  the    spiritual    kingdom, 
you  do  not  read  it  to  discover  the  laws  of 
matter  or  the  facts  of  natural  philosophy. 
When    you    read    the    Fathers,    you    read 
them    as    those   who    throw    light    on  the 


i8o  Lectures  on  Preaching  lect. 

history  of  theological  opinion,  but  you  do 
not  read  them  as  experts  in  science.     In 
all  your  studies  remember  the  range  and 
limit  of  the  writer.     Where  he  is  speaking 
within  his  province,  give  him  sympathetic 
attention.     Beyond  his  province,  he  is  of 
no    value.      Gather    knowledge    from    all 
sources  and  from  writers  of  all  ages  ;  but 
remember  that  you  cannot  learn  to  speak 
the  language   of  to-day  by   studying  the 
theology   of  the    past.      Early    and    later 
divines  teach  us  excellently  well  on  certain 
matters,  and  for  these  we  do  well  to  read 
them,   but  they  are  not  infallible  even  on 
those  points,  and  on  some  questions  they 
were    necessarily    in    complete    ignorance  ; 
but    in    addition    to  this,  their    modes    of 
expressing  truth  are  seldom   fitted  to  the 
nineteenth  century.    The  thing  which  is  true 
in  St.  Chrysostom,  or  St.  Augustine,  often 
needs  to  be  translated  and  rephrased  if  it 


V  Lectures  on  Preaching  i8i 

is  to  become  intelligible  to  the  men  of  our 
own  day.  We  must  take  care  lest  in  study- 
ing the  great  men  of  the  past  we  forget  the 
language  of  to-day.  The  phrases  of  the 
past  have  altered  meanings  in  the  present. 
If  you  would  become  apt  in  the  language 
of  your  own  times,  you  will  gain  more  for 
your  purpose  from  ordinary  modern  text- 
books of  history,  science,  and  literature, 
than  you  will  out  of  whole  libraries  of 
ancient  treatises.  Do  not  be  content  with 
saying,  I  preach  the  truth.  Do  not  be 
content  till  you  have  translated  the  truth 
into  the  language  of  your  own  day.  Study 
that  language  which  gets  near  to  the 
heart  of  the  people.  The  language  of  the 
greatest  sons  of  the  past  is  not  sure  to 
reach  that  heart.  The  sermons  of  Latimer 
and  Jeremy  Taylor  and  South  would  find 
yawning  audiences  among  ourselves.  We 
need  to  alter  the  obsolete  phraseology  of 


1 82  Lectures  on  Preaching  lect. 

the  past  into  the  Uving  language  of  to-day. 
That  language  you  must  use  if  you  are 
to  make  truth  clear  to  your  people.  Read 
Dr.  Carpenter's  Energy  in  Nature^  or 
Emile  Caillard's  Forces  of  Nature.  Study 
books  like  these,  because  they  put  you  in 
immediate  contact  with  the  thought  and 
language  of  your  own  time.  Study  them, 
because  they  express  the  teaching  which  is 
being  given  to  those  whom  you  have  to 
address.  For  the  same  reason  visit  our 
public  galleries  and  museums.  There  are 
to  be  found  in  them  increasing  oppor- 
tunities of  education.  Read  the  stories 
pictured  on  their  walls.  There  you  may 
learn  in  the  stratification  of  the  rocks  and 
soil  the  unfolded  tale  of  the  growth  of 
the  earth.  There  you  may  meet  with  the 
gigantic  forms  of  those  creatures  who 
dwelt  as  our  predecessors  on  this  globe. 
It    is    well    to    know  something  of  these. 


V  Lectures  on  Preaching  183 

Cultivate,  if  I  may  say  so,  a  bowing  ac- 
quaintance with  the  ichthyosaurus  and  the 
iguanodon.  Such  knowledge  will  enlarge 
the  mind,  and  help  us  to  apprehend  the 
language  of  our  times.  I  am  not  advo- 
cating the  use  of  scientific  terms  or  the 
ambition  of  long  words,  but  only  that 
general  knowledge  of  the  thought  and 
speech  of  the  age  which  will  contribute 
to  clear  expression  of  our  thoughts,  and 
to  sympathy  with  the  ideas  of  our  people. 
But  this  is  not  all.  Our  knowledge  must 
not  be  of  books  and  museums  only.  We 
need  to  gain  knowledge  of  our  people  and 
their  speech.  Be  much  among  your  people. 
Study  their  ways  of  thinking  and  speaking. 
Observe  the  value  which  they  attach  to  the 
phrases  which  are  current  among  them. 
This  will  correct  any  tendency  to  pedantry 
of  either  ancient  or  modern  form.  You 
will  learn  the  life  and  heart  of  your  people. 


184  Lectures  on  Preaching  lect. 

You  will  establish  that  living  sympathy 
which  will  find  expression  in  simple  and 
natural  language.  Their  heart  will  be  with 
your  heart,  because  your  heart  is  with 
theirs. 

3.  This  leads  to  our  next  thought.  We 
must  not  only  speak  the  language,  we 
must  above  all  catch  the  spirit,  of  the  age. 
You  will  have  understood  that  I  do  not 
counsel  you  to  parade  all  the  information 
you  may  gather  from  scientific  treatises 
or  visits  to  museums.  Nothing  is  more 
objectionable,  or  more  useless,  than  a  ser- 
mon packed  with  pedantic  display  of  the 
knowledge  superficially  and  cheaply  picked 
up  in  the  week.  Your  studies  must  be 
bond  fide.  You  must  read  that  you  may 
know,  and  not  merely  that  you  may  seem 
to  know.  You  must  not  appear  among 
your  people  as  the  purveyor  of  shallow 
novelties,  or  as  one  who  appears  to  challenge 


V  Lectures  on  Preaching  185 

approval  on  the  score  of  his  being  abreast 
of  the  times.  Here,  as  elsewhere,  the  letter 
killeth.  It  is  the  spirit  of  our  age  with 
which  we  must  be  acquainted.  We  must 
not  be  ambitious  of  any  parade  of  human 
learning,  ancient  or  modern.  We  must 
rather  so  study  that  our  people  may  feel 
that  even  when  we  are  speaking  on  the 
simplest  possible  topics  that  have  no  rela- 
tionship with  any  scientific  question,  we  are 
treating  them  with  the  spirit  of  a  thoughtful 
man  whose  mind  moves  in  sympathy  with 
the  best  thought  of  his  day,  and  who 
reverences  truth  from  whatever  source  it 
may  come.  To  do  this  is  more  useful  than 
to  take  some  parody  of  a  scientific  state- 
ment, and  enjoy  yourself  and  disgust  the 
better  class  of  your  people  by  crushing 
your  invented  adversary  in  the  pulpit. 
You  are  not  called  upon  to  do  such  things  ; 
there  is  very  little  profit  in  them.     As  you 


1 86  Lectures  on  Preaching  lect. 

read,  study  in  the  spirit  of  the  age.  When 
you  speak  let  every  person  feel,  from  the 
very  way  in  which  you  speak,  that  you 
are  acquainted  with  the  discoveries  and 
problems  of  the  age  in  which  you  live, 
and  that  you  are  capable  of  treating  your 
subject  candidly  and  intelligently. 

Study  the  spirit  of  your  age.  We  some- 
times are  told  that  our  age  is  an  irreligious 
age.  The  age  is  scientific,  but  it  is  not 
therefore  irreligious  in  its  spirit.  Some 
indeed  have  argued  that  it  must  be  so  ; 
but  this  appears  to  me  either  a  thoughtless 
or  an  insincere  mode  of  argument.  It  is 
perfectly  true  that  scientific  studies  may  be 
conducted  in  an  irreligious  spirit,  but  there 
is  nothing  necessarily  irreligious  in  the 
spirit  of  investigation.  On  the  contrary, 
the  spirit  of  investigation  is  a  religious 
spirit  in  the  world,  for  if  it  is  sincere  it 
must   be   earnestly  athirst   for  truth.     To 


V  Lectures  on  Preaching  187 

argue  from  misuse  against  all  use  is  a 
dangerous  argument.  It  is  possible  to  turn 
its  edge  against  the  most  reasonable  and 
most  religious  of  customs.  Our  church 
services  may  be  made  irreligious  when  they 
are  conducted  in  an  irreligious  manner,  but 
we  should  despise  as  well  as  resent  the 
argument  that  because  one  man  imports 
an  irreligious  spirit  into  divine  service, 
therefore  all  such  services  are  irreligious. 
But  there  is  no  need  to  waste  time  or 
words  on  such  faulty  arguments.  I  desire 
only  to  caution  you  against  the  too  com- 
mon assumption  on  the  part  of  timid  and 
inexperienced  people  that  to  be  scientific  is 
to  be  irreligious.  Tres  medici^  duo  athei  is 
not  true,  and  it  is  neither  just  nor  wise  to 
imagine  that  it  is.  Above  all  things  we 
need  to  be  just  and  truthful  if  we  are  to 
help  and  understand  our  age.  Indeed,  if 
we  are   to   serve   our  generation  we  must 


1 88  Lectures  on  Preaching  lect. 

cultivate  the  patient,  honest,  and  truth-lov- 
ing qualities  of  the  genuine  scientific  spirit. 
This  leads  me  to  say,  do  not  be  irreligiously 
hasty.  There  are  many  who  cannot  formu- 
late their  thoughts  and  views  in  the  current 
phraseology  of  Christendom.  They  feel 
they  must  be  true  to  themselves.  They 
dread  lest  by  appearing  to  countenance 
phraseology  to  which  they  cannot  subscribe 
they  should  be  taken  to  agree  with  that 
with  which  they  do  not  agree.  But  they 
are  not  therefore  unchristian.  They  re- 
cognise that  mankind  has  inherited  in 
Christianity  an  untold  wealth  of  spiritual 
thought,  and  a  power  of  ministry  to  the 
religious  consciousness  of  the  race.  And 
they  would  not  dream  of  damaging  that 
power  or  of  robbing  men  of  that  in- 
heritance. 

Many    of    those    whom    you    may    be 
tempted  to  denounce  may,  perchance,  not 


V  Lectures  on  Preaching  189 

be  far  from  the  kingdom  of  God.  It  is 
well  to  remember  that  our  Lord  pronounced 
a  woe  not  only  against  those  who  took  away 
the  key,  but  also  against  those  who  hindered 
them  that  were  entering  into  the  kingdom. 
We  need  to  take  heed  lest  in  our  ministry 
we,  by  the  petty  spirit  of  ignorance  or  mis- 
understanding, appear  to  close  the  gate  of 
heaven  to  any  seeking  soul.  You  know 
what  disastrous  results  this  attitude  of  mind 
has  wrought  in  the  history  of  the  past.  I 
need  only  to  mention  the  name  of  Galileo, 
or  to  remind  you  how  John  Owen  wrote 
that  the  philosophy  of  Newton  was  a  vain 
speculation  and  dangerous  to  the  authority 
of  Holy  Scripture.  John  Owen  was  in 
many  ways  a  great  man,  but  he  was  pro- 
foundly ignorant  of  the  science  and  spirit 
of  his  age.  The  history  of  the  past  may 
give  us  lessons  for  our  duty  in  the  present. 
And    the    duty    which    it    teaches    is    the 


190  Lectures  on  ^reaching  lect. 

duty  of  cultivating  an  appreciative  spirit 
towards  our  own  age,  lest  in  misunder- 
standing its  drift  and  tone  we  fail  to  do 
our  duty  in  it. 

It  is,  moreover,  a  blunder  to  think  that 
every  movement  of  thought  is  hostile  to 
religion.  To  think  this  is  to  give  away 
the  battle  beforehand.  To  believe  this  is  to 
forget  that  the  Lord  sits  above  the  water- 
flood  and  the  Lord  remaineth  a  King  for 
ever.  It  is  worse  than  weakness  to  lift  up 
our  hands  in  terror  at  the  advance  of  know- 
ledge and  to  cry  aloud  that  the  foundations 
are  cast  down.  Our  faith  ought  to  be  of 
stronger  metal.  We  ought  to  rely  upon 
that  Providence  which  ordereth  all  things  in 
heaven  and  earth.  But  more,  we  ought  to 
be  intelligent  enough  to  perceive  that  a  great 
deal  of  the  present  age  movement  is  on  the 
side  of  faith.  We  live  in  times  that  may 
be  described  as  difficult  times.     Questions 


V  Lectures  on  Preaching  191 

are  debated,  and  we  cannot  escape  the  sound 
of  debate.  You  will  be  exposed  to  the 
necessity  of  saying  "  Aye  "  or  "  No  "  upon 
many  questions  in  the  progress  of  your  life. 
But  you  will  not  be  able  to  answer  wisely 
either  Aye  or  No,  unless  you  have  realised 
how  many  are  the  elements  in  modern 
thought  which  are  helpful  to  faith.  It  is 
not  for  me  to  pronounce  an  opinion  upon 
scientific  matters,  but  it  seems  to  me  that 
the  fear  which  many  entertain  of  the  theory 
of  evolution  is  a  mistake.  Certainly  the 
strongest  help  to  faith  in  the  present  day 
comes  from  those  who  have  frankly  ac- 
cepted it  as  a  working  theory.  With 
trivial  or  secondary  points  modern  thought 
may  indeed  be  in  conflict,  but  it  often 
affords  support  and  illustration  to  weightier 
matters  of  faith.  Essential  matters  remain 
untouched.  Light  has  been  thrown  upon 
the  growth  of  religion.     Our  notions  may 


192  Lectures  on  Preaching  lect. 

be  modified,  but  our  spiritual  convictions 
are  unimpaired,  and  even  strengthened. 
The  future  has  been  illuminated.  The 
life  of  the  world  to  come  has  been  brought 
into  clearer  relief  with  the  intenser  realisa- 
tion of  the  one  spiritual  principle  ever 
working  in  man's  life. 

But  there  is  yet  another  reason  for 
catching  the  spirit  of  our  age.  By  doing 
so  you  will  learn  to  avoid  dull  and  offensive 
blunders.  We  shall  not,  for  instance,  use  the 
illustration  of  a  magnet  passing  over  and 
attracting  a  number  of  metal  filings  as 
exhibiting  the  manner  in  which  the  bodies 
of  the  dead  or  their  scattered  members  may 
be  raised  again.  One  hardly  knows  whether 
to  smile  or  to  sigh  over  an  illustration  like 
this,  which  reveals  alike  bad  science  and 
bad  theology.  It  is  difficult  to  pardon  St. 
Augustine  for  teaching  that  in  the  resurrec- 
tion every  material  item  we  had  ever  lost, 


V  Lectures  on  F reaching  193 

even  to  the  parings  of  our  nails,  would  be 
restored  to  us  ;  but  it  is  quite  unpardon- 
able that  a  Christian  of  the  nineteenth 
century  should  sanction  such  absurd  and 
unscriptural  materialism.  In  the  same  way 
we  shall  not  foolishly  declare  that  cremation 
destroys  the  doctrine  of  the  Resurrection, 
for  we  shall  realise  that  the  power  of  God 
cannot  be  set  aside  by  our  crude  ideas. 
We  shall  not  reject  historical  or  geo- 
graphical explanations  of  difficulties  or 
customs  with  the  view  of  gaining  credit 
for  greater  spirituality  of  mind,  and  of  being 
able  to  claim  that  "  we  walk  by  faith  and 
not  by  sight."  It  is  our  duty  to  avoid 
casting  stumbling-blocks  in  our  brother's 
way.  It  is  our  duty  so  to  understand  our 
age  and  to  be  in  harmony  with  its  know- 
ledge that  we  shall  not  put  before  our 
people  raw  and  foolish  theories  which 
irritate  the  thoughtful,  which  make  the 
o 


194  Lectures  on  Preaching         lect. 

righteous  sad,  and  which  bring  profit  to 
no  one.  But  if  we  show  reverence  towards 
knowledge,  if  we  patiently  strive  to  under- 
stand our  age  and  are  sympathetic  to  catch 
its  spirit,  we  shall  be  children  of  our  age, 
able  to  convey  to  it  our  message,  because 
able  to  translate  eternal  truth  into  the 
tongue  of  our  own  times. 

II.  But,  if  we  ought  to  be  the  children 
of  our  age,  we  must  take  heed  not  to  be 
its  slaves.  We  are  not  to  be  its  slaves, 
because  our  duty  is  towards  eternity  as 
well  as  time.  We  are  to  minister  to  the 
men  of  our  own  age,  but  we  are  to  minister 
truths  which  belong  to  every  age.  We  are 
men  ministering  in  time,  but  we  are  men 
dealing  with  principles  which  are  above 
time.  We  touch  the  eternities  among  the 
men  of  a  day.  And  this  is  the  very  reason 
which  has  made  me  plead  with  you  to  know 
the  language  of  your  own  age.      If  yours 


V  Lectures  on  Preaching  195 

was  only  an  ephemeral  message,  the  language 
in  which  it  was  told  would  be  of  little 
moment,  but  because  yours  is  a  message 
concerning  things  which  endure,  it  is  your 
part  to  make  it  clear  and  to  translate  it  into 
the  language  which  the  people  will  under- 
stand. For  the  same  reason  we  must  be 
men  unterrified  and  unseduced.  It  is  not 
for  us  to  pander  to  men's  fancies  or  to  sink 
to  the  level  of  the  world's  thoughts  or 
customs ;  we  are  to  be  the  vehicles  of 
God's  truth  to  our  fellow-men.  Do  not 
therefore  allow  yourselves  to  become  the 
slaves  of  the  present.  Do  not  be  in  a 
hurry  to  go  after  every  strange  or  novel 
idea.  Do  not  be  the  votary  of  shallow 
magazine  literature.  Scorn  to  pick  up  the 
cheap  commonplaces  of  some  second-rate 
writer  and  to  serve  them  out  to  your  people 
in  the  third-rate  fin  de  Steele  language. 
Remember  that  the  essential  principles  with 


196  Lectures  on  Preaching         lect. 

which  you  have  to  deal  never  change.  If, 
therefore,  you  are  not  to  be  the  slave  of 
your  age,  you  must  be  in  the  possession  of 
truths  which  you  are  perfectly  convinced 
are  outside  the  power  of  time  to  touch,  and 
the  power  of  human  thought  to  change. 

It  was  said  by  Marion  Crawford  ot 
certain  people  that  they  had  no  indoors  in 
their  life.  Unfortunately  this  is  too  true 
of  many  people.  In  crossing  the  threshold 
of  their  first  acquaintance  you  have  learned 
all  there  is  to  know  of  them.  They  are 
soon  ransacked.  They  have  no  deep  inner- 
most life  where  dwell  eternal  convictions  and 
thoughts  of  that  which  is  high  above  the 
changing  present.  Such  people  become  the 
sport  of  the  hour,  the  victims  of  fashion, 
creatures  at  the  mercy  of  the  most  thread- 
bare periodical  or  the  most  vapid  of  theo- 
logical novels.  Our  manhood  should  scorn 
to  be  such  as  these.     The  preacher's  calling 


V  Lectures  on  Preaching  197 

demands  more  abiding  moral  characteristics 
and  more  conscientious  exercise  of  thought. 
It  is  the  preacher's  function  to  witness  to 
that  which  is  changeless  in  the  midst  of 
that  which  is  changing.  Any  one  can  be 
the  messenger  of  change  ;  but  none  can  be 
a  messenger  of  comfort  to  man  who  cannot 
speak  of  the  unchangeable  to  those  who 
weary  amid  life's  vicissitudes.  For  changes 
are  inevitable.  To  the  young  change  is 
welcome,  because  novelty  is  sweet  where 
hope  is  strong  ;  but  to  those  who  have 
overpassed  the  springtime  of  life,  change 
means  loss  and  sorrow.  Such  grow  tired 
of  change.  They  ask  for  something  fixed. 
They  are  familiar  enough  with  the  shifting 
scenes  of  the  drama  of  life.  They  know 
what  tragedies  are  unfolded  in  the  develop- 
ment of  the  piece.  They  long  to  be 
assured  that  something  abides  in  the  tiring 
movements  which  bring  sorrow  and  dismay. 


198  Lectures  on  Preaching  lect. 

They  want  some  interpreting  voice  to  tell 
them  that  there  is  a  changeless  wisdom 
which  presides  over  these  heart-breaking 
vicissitudes.  They  turn  from  the  scenes 
which  are  so  Hill  of  disappointment  and 
disaster  to  listen  to  the  comments,  explana- 
tions, or  lessons  of  the  chorus.  What  the 
chorus  was  in  ancient  drama  the  preacher 
is  called  upon  to  be  in  the  theatre  of  life, 
the  witness  of  the  permanent  among  the 
perishable. 

But  not  for  the  sake  of  the  people  alone 
is  this  hold  upon  the  permanent  needful. 
It  is  needful  for  the  preacher  himself.  You 
are  most  of  you  young,  and  it  is  the  privilege 
of  youth  to  hope  for  change,  and  to  be 
convinced  of  its  own  unchangeableness.  In 
the  clear  atmosphere  of  the  morning  every 
object  is  seen  with  distinctness  ;  and  the 
distinctness  of  vision  is  mistaken  for  the 
changelessness  of  the  object.     When  we  are 


V  Lectures  on  Preaching  199 

young  we  are  very  sure  of  what  we  see  and 
of  what  we  beheve.  We  are  gifted  with  a 
large  confidence.  We  doubt  the  possibility 
that  we  shall  ever  change  the  views  which 
seem  so  firmly  fixed  in  our  minds.  But 
nothing  is  more  certain  than  that,  if  we 
are  worth  anything,  we  shall  change  our 
views.  Not  to  change  is  not  to  grow. 
The  very  law  which  regulates  the  growth 
of  our  moral  stature  carries  with  it  the 
necessity  of  some  change  in  our  intellectual 
apprehensions.  The  man  of  fifty  does  not 
think  in  the  same  way  as  the  young  man  of 
twenty.  Great  men  have  often  shown  their 
greatness  in  recanting  their  early  opinions. 
Men  as  far  apart  in  time  and  temper  as  St. 
Augustine  and  Richard  Baxter  were  at  one 
in  this.  St.  Augustine  wrote  his  Retracta- 
tions, and  Richard  Baxter  in  his  mellower 
days  has  told  us  how  many  opinions,  which 
seemed    to   him    important    in    his   young 


200  Lectures  on  Preaching         lect. 

days,  appeared  to  him  insignificant  in  his 
maturer  life.  It  is  so  with  those  who 
think  and  follow  truth.  It  will  be  so  with 
many  of  you.  But  for  this  very  reason,  I 
urge  you  to  remember  that  you  need  to 
grasp  the  permanent  amid  the  perishable. 
You  need  to  lay  hold  of  the  kingdom  which 
cannot  be  shaken,  for  be  sure  that  the 
increase  of  knowledge  and  experience  and 
the  developments  of  life  and  thought 
will  shape  down  many  things  which  appear 
immovable  now.  You  as  much  as  your 
people  need  to  have  assurance  of  that  which 
does  not  change ;  for  without  this  how 
can  your  heart  be  fixed,  or  your  message 
helpful  in  the  world  .^  There  is  one  change- 
lessness  which  I  hope  will  not  be  yours.  I 
would  not  have  any  of  you,  out  of  sheer 
dread  of  change,  climb  into  the  seat  of 
smug  and  self-satisfied  infallibilism.  Though 
your    calling    is    to    be    teachers   of  men, 


V  Lectures  on  Preaching  201 

remember  that  though  you  are  teachers 
you  are  still  men.  The  call  to  teach  does 
not  confer  upon  you  immunity  from  error. 
The  sacred  and  solemn  hour  which  sets 
you  apart  from  the  world  for  your  high  and 
responsible  function  carries  with  it  consecra- 
tion of  life,  but  not  freedom  from  the  possi- 
bility of  mistake.  It  is  only  ignorance  which 
imagines  itself  to  be  infallible  ;  and  it  is 
arrogant  ignorance  which  imagines  that,  in 
virtue  of  having  put  on  a  white  tie,  there 
is  no  question  in  heaven  or  earth,  in  science 
or  theology,  upon  which  it  is  not  competent 
to  give  an  opinion.  Difficulties  do  not  die 
at  your  ordination. 

But  neither  would  I  have  you  fly  to  the 
opposite  extreme,  and  pose  as  the  infallibilist 
of  uncertainty,  the  prophet  who  is  certain 
that  nothing  is  certain.  If  you  have  no 
message  except  to  declare  that  there  is 
neither  moral  order  nor  truth  nor  righteous- 


202  Lectures  on  Preaching         lect. 

ness  in  the  world  —  that  the  universe  is 
chaos  and  man's  reason  pulp — then  why- 
speak  at  all  ?  Wherefore  shouldest  thou 
run,  seeing  thou  hast  no  tidings  ? 

No  ;  if  you  are  to  be  ministers  to  the 
sorrows  and  teachers  of  the  ignorance  of 
men,  you  must  grasp  something  which  is 
sure  and  changeless.  You  must  be  ready 
to  speak  with  modesty,  but  also  with  con- 
viction and  moral  earnestness.  We  may 
not,  we  cannot,  claim  to  satisfy  all  the 
doubts,  and  to  solve  all  the  problems, 
which  beset  the  minds  of  the  men  of  our 
generation,  but  we  may  have,  notwith- 
standing, a  clear  and  assuring  word  for 
their  hearts  and  consciences.  For  this  we 
need  to  disentangle  ourselves  from  the 
transient  and  insignificant  points  of  brain- 
wearying  controversies  which  disturb  the 
world  and  distract  the  church.  We  need 
to    go    back   to    the    simple   and    spiritual 


V  Lectures  on  Preaching  203 

attitude  of  the  childlike  in  heart.  Ab 
exterioribus  ad  interiora :  ab  interioribus 
ad  superior  a.  The  things  without  bewilder  : 
there  is  an  inner  sanctuary,  a  holy  of  holies, 
in  the  soul  of  each  man,  from  whose  altar 
he  may  ascend  to  God.  Our  glance  must 
never  be  only  around  us.  We  need  to 
look  upward  and  inward  if  we  are  to  bear 
any  true  message  to  those  who  are  around  us. 
When  the  seer  of  the  Apocalypse  was  about 
to  set  forth  the  terrible  and  heart-daunting 
drama  of  those  principles  which  are  in  per- 
petual conflict  in  the  story  of  the  earth,  he 
was  shown  first  of  all  the  vision  of  God 
and  the  sacred  emblems  of  His  eternal 
and  righteous  government.  Before  the 
scenes  of  carnage,  confusion,  and  change 
were  delineated,  the  immovable  throne  of 
the  Changeless  One  was  seen.  The  vision 
serves  to  remind  us  that,  amid  all  the 
strange  vicissitudes  of  human  history,  there 


204  Lectures  on  Preaching  lect. 

was  a  sovereignty  which  suffered  no  shock, 
no  lessening  or  lowering  of  its  power.  In 
the  foreground  of  the  stage  were  the  shift- 
ing scenes  of  human  progress  and  human 
change  :  in  the  background,  never  leaving 
the  stage,  there  was  God's  throne — God's 
presence,  the  Lamb  as  it  had  been  slain, 
the  Sevenfold  Spirit  of  God.  Whatever 
else  might  change,  the  relation  between 
God  and  man  did  not  change.  God  was 
still  the  Eternal  God,  the  Father  and 
Refuge  of  His  people.  The  bond  of  love 
and  sacrifice  still  bound  heaven  to  earth 
and  man  to  God.  Still  the  Eternal  Spirit, 
in  manifold,  varied,  and  constant  power, 
might  dwell  in  the  hearts  of  men,  instruct- 
ing their  minds  and  disciplining  their 
lives.  Here  we  may  learn  the  lesson  of 
the  changeless  truths  which  at  all  times 
it  is  given  to  us  to  declare.  Whatever 
else  may  alter,  however  much  our  opinions 


V  Lectures  on  Preaching  205 

on  minor  matters  may  be  modified  from 
time  to  time,  God  is  still  the  same,  the 
Everlasting  One,  the  Succour  of  His 
children,  the  Rock  higher  than  man,  the 
Everlasting  One  who  fainteth  not,  neither 
is  weary.  Whatever  confusion  may  fill  our 
minds,  in  God  who  is  the  Father  of  all,  in 
the  Son  in  whom  is  redemption  for  all,  in  the 
Spirit  by  whom  all  may  be  sanctified,  there 
is  no  change.  In  our  weakness  we  may  de- 
pend upon  the  Fatherly  love  of  God.  We 
may  enter  into  fellowship  with  Him  in  the 
law  of  love  and  sacrifice  revealed  in  Christ. 
And  in  the  sustaining  power  of  His  Spirit  we 
may  grow  up  into  His  likeness  till  we  are 
perfect  as  our  Father  in  heaven  is  perfect. 

These  are  truths  and  spiritual  principles 
which  do  not  change.  We  must  lay  hold 
of  these  principles  if  our  message  is  to  be  a 
real  and  assuring  one  to  men  who  live  in  the 
midst  of  so  much  that  is  liable  to  change. 


2o6  Lectures  on  Preaching         lect. 

In  conclusion,  there  is  one  word  I  should 
like  to  say.  If  any  helping  message  is  to 
pass  from  you  to  men,  your  sermons  must 
not  be  the  mere  product  of  your  study,  they 
must  be  the  outcome  of  your  heart,  the 
expression  of  your  innermost  self  and  life. 
Avoid  altogether,  therefore,  the  habit  of 
looking  on  your  sermons  as  the  necessary 
task  to  be  undertaken  as  the  week  draws 
to  its  close.  Let  your  sermons  rather  be 
the  natural  product  of  your  own  personal 
reading,  praying,  and  living.  Do  not 
preach  because  the  sermon  is  an  inevitable 
duty,  but  because  you  are  full  of  something 
which  you  long  to  say.  Do  not  preach 
because  you  have  to  say  something,  but 
because  you  have  something  to  say.  There- 
fore be  true  to  yourselves.  Cultivate  your 
own  heart  and  character.  Make  reading 
and  prayer  and  thought  part  of  your  daily 
life.     Let  your  sermons  rise  naturally  out 


V  Lectures  on  Preaching  207 

of  what  you  have  been  finding  true  through 
your  own  study.  In  short,  be  devout  men. 
Make  the  Bible — the  Bible  is  no  less  the 
spiritual  book  of  the  world  than  it  was 
before  criticism  became  a  science — make 
the  Bible  your  constant  study.  Read, 
mark,  learn,  and  that  with  the  more 
earnestness  because  you  live  in  a  thinking 
and  critical  age.  Let  your  sermons  be,  as 
much  as  possible,  the  outcome  of  this 
personal  study  of  the  Bible,  the  mel- 
lowed fruit  of  your  own  thought  and 
prayer.  Then  you  will  go  to  the  pulpit, 
not  with  the  unsatisfactory  feeling  that 
your  sermon  has  been  hastily  put  together 
under  the  dire  necessity  of  time-pressure, 
but  that  it  is  the  calm,  honest  expression 
of  intelligent  and  earnest  conviction  : 
it  is  that  which  you  have  seen,  heard, 
looked  upon,  and  which  your  hands  have 
handled.     It  will  then  come  straight  from 


2o8  Lectures  on  Preaching     lect.  v 

your  heart.  It  will  be  a  true  message, 
instinct  with  the  tenderness  of  human 
sympathy,  and  glowing  with  the  fire  of 
God. 


LECTURE  VI 

I  WISH  to  speak  to  you,  in  this  last  lecture, 
on  the  aim  of  preaching.  But  before 
doing  so,  I  would  remind  you  of  one 
characteristic  feature  of  our  age — I  mean 
the  force  of  public  opinion.  Public  opinion 
has  been  in  varying  degree  a  power  in  the 
life  of  the  world  ;  but  it  has  been  reserved 
for  the  last  few  centuries  to  realise  the 
sovereign  greatness  of  this  power.  As 
progress  is  made,  this  power  is  likely  to 
increase  ;  and,  speaking  of  our  own  age, 
I  think  few  will  disagree  with  the  opinion 
of  the  late  Earl  of  Carnarvon,  that  there 
is  no  greater  known  force  than  that  of 
p 


2IO  Lectures  on  Preaching         lect. 

public  opinion.  Now  it  is  the  preacher's 
duty  to  influence  this  confessedly  great 
power.  Public  opinion  is  a  strange 
aggregate  of  ideas,  convictions,  and  senti- 
ments. Thought,  conscience,  and  aff^ection, 
hold  sway  over  men  ;  and  a  man's  views 
are  generally  the  outcome  of  the  influ- 
ence of  this  combined  sovereignty,  modi- 
fied by  the  power  of  that  imitative  faculty 
which  puts  men  largely  at  the  mercy  of 
tradition,  example,  or  contagion.  By  in- 
voking, therefore,  the  powers  of  thought, 
conscience,  and  love,  public  opinion  can  be 
reached.  By  these  avenues  men  may  be 
won.  To  persuade  men  is  the  preacher's 
duty  and  privilege.  If  he  is  true  to  his 
calling  and  to  the  example  of  his  Lord, 
he  will  scorn  all  baser  modes  of  ascendency 
over  men.  He  will  realise,  indeed,  the 
importance  of  influencing  public  opinion, 
because,  by  its  power,  laws,  which  touch 


VI  Lectures  on  Preaching  211 

the  health,  honour,  and  happiness  of  thou- 
sands, and  customs,  perhaps  more  in- 
fluential than  laws,  are  established.  But 
more  than  public  opinion,  he  will  wish  to 
influence  men.  He  will  certainly  not  care 
to  ask  whether  his  teaching  is  in  harmony 
with  public  opinion  or  not.  He  does  not 
seek  to  be  popular.  He  seeks  to  draw 
men  within  the  sacred  circle  of  truth 
and  righteousness.  He  is  content  to  be 
a  messenger,  watchman,  and  steward,  to 
teach  and  to  premonish,  to  feed  and  pro- 
vide for  the  Lord's  family,  and  to  seek  for 
Christ's  sheep  that  are  dispersed  abroad. 
He  is  to  be  a  fisher  of  men.  He  is  to 
seek  that  response  which  is  deeper  than 
any  mere  popular  movement  of  public 
opinion,  the  response  of  the  heart,  the 
life,  the  character.  He  seeks  not  the 
applause,  but  the  souls  of  men.  Like  the 
Apostle,  "  not  yours,  but  you  "  is  his  motto. 


212  Lectures  on  Preaching  lect. 

I.  Let  me  then  say  to  you,  keep  clearly 
this  aim  in  view.  It  is  always  important 
to  have  a  clear  and  dominating  realisation 
of  the  purpose  of  our  work.  Often,  indeed 
in  all  the  nobler  aspects  of  life's  work,  we 
must  act  without  clearly  seeing  the  issue  of 
our  actions  ;  we  must  resolve  on  the  venture 
of  faith.  But  though  the  issue  may  often 
be  obscure,  the  aim  of  our  actions  should 
be  clear  ;  for  the  consciousness  of  purpose 
in  our  work  exercises  a  strong  and  healthy 
influence  upon  us.  The  student  knows 
that  to  study  without  discovering  the  pur- 
pose of  a  writer,  is  to  lose  the  value  of 
his  teaching.  We  are  like  mariners  on 
the  ocean  without  a  compass  ;  we  are  like 
critics  without  a  conscience — we  read  into 
the  work  our  own  fancies,  pet  theories,  or 
ill-temper. 

"In  every  work  regard  the  writer's  end, 
Since  none  can  compass  more  than  he  intend." 


VI  Lectures  on  Preaching  213 

If  this  is  a  sound  principle  for  the 
student,  and  a  wholesome  counsel  for  the 
reviewer,  it  is  a  safe  and  wise  one  for  the 
preacher.  He  too  needs  to  keep  in  view 
his  purpose,  lest  he  fall  below  the  true  mark, 
or  be  carried  away  by  the  influences  which 
tend  to  obscure  this  aim. 

There  are  many  such  influences.  Some 
of  these  are  obvious  enough.  The  criticism 
or  the  flattery  of  men  may  tempt  us  to 
lower  our  flag,  or  to  aim  at  a  less  worthy 
end  than  the  winning  of  men's  souls.  I 
need  not  speak  of  these  temptations  ;  they 
are  strong  and  obvious  enough  to  those 
who  know  themselves.  I  select  other 
influences  less  patent,  but  of  real  power. 
These  are  the  monotony  of  work,  the 
tyranny  of  method,  and  the  spirit  of 
clericalism. 

I .  There  is  the  monotony  of  work.  At 
the  commencement  this  is  not  felt.     Every- 


214  Lectures  on  Preaching         lect. 

thing  is  new,  and  what  is  new  is  ever 
dehghtful  to  those  whose  life  is  still  before 
them.  But  when  once  we  have  "  learned  the 
ropes,"  the  danger  appears.  We  fall  into  the 
routine  of  the  parish  work.  The  services 
must  be  taken  as  a  matter  of  course.  The 
Sundays  come  round  with  amazing  rapidity. 
The  nervousness,  which  at  first  made  us 
circumspect  or  anxiously  careful,  wears  off. 
Every  duty  becomes  a  matter  of  course. 
Then  comes  the  temptation  to  treat  it  as  a 
matter  of  course.  Then  human  nature  is 
prone  to  choose  the  path  of  least  resistance. 
We  fall  into  a  groove,  and  the  groove  will 
generally  be  found  to  be  along  the  easiest 
road  ;  and  the  easiest  road  is  not  always  the 
road  towards  the  highest  goal.  Our  aim  is 
to  get  through  our  work  with  the  smallest 
possible  trouble.  We  no  longer  wrestle 
with  our  work.  We  forget  that  our  aim 
is  to  win  souls.     Monotony  has  fallen  upon 


VI  Lectures  on  Preaching  215 

us  with  paralysing  power.     The  true  end  of 
our  work  is  no  longer  clearly  seen. 

2.  There  is  the  tyranny  of  method. 
Every  good  thing  has  its  shadow.  Method 
is  good,  but  a  man  may  become  the  slave 
of  method  instead  of  its  master;  and  in 
that  case  the  thing  which  might  be  a  help 
becomes  a  hindrance.  In  other  words,  we 
may  fall  into  a  set  way  of  doing  things, 
and  the  freshness  may  vanish  from  our 
work.  We  become  mechanical  ;  and  in 
becoming  mechanical,  we  become  lifeless 
and  ineffective.  We  lose  sight  of  the  end 
in  the  means.  We  think  more  of  the 
machinery  than  of  the  work  which  the 
machinery  is  designed  to  do.  We  are 
content  with  things  as  they  are.  We  have 
confidence  in  the  methods  to  which  we 
are  accustomed.  We  distrust  new  methods. 
But  this  attitude  of  mind  invites  failure. 
The  reason   is    simple.     It    is    not    always 


2i6  Lectures  on  ^reaching         lect. 

because  the  old  method  is  bad,  and  the  new 
good,  that  the  man  who  clings  to  the  old 
fails  ;  it  is  rather  because  the  preference 
for  the  old  is  so  often  an  idle  preference. 
It  is  a  sign  of  the  indolence  which  shirks 
the  trouble  of  trying  anything  new.  The 
dislike  of  fresh  enterprise  is  a  symptom  ot 
the  decay  of  vitality.  It  may  be  a  token 
of  the  decline  of  mental  energy,  and  even 
of  moral  earnestness  ;  and  even  if  it  is 
not  a  sign  of  such  a  decadence  of  power, 
it  may  be  a  cause  of  it.  The  man  who 
obstinately  cleaves  to  old  methods  may  lose 
moral  force  as  a  penalty  of  his  obstinacy. 
It  is  needful  to  keep  all  our  powers  on  the 
alert,  and  to  be  ready  to  employ  every  variety 
of  lawful  effort  to  achieve  our  end.  Earth's 
laws  are  dead  laws,  said  the  Chinese  sage, 
but  Heaven's  laws  are  living  laws.  The 
sign  of  intellectual  vitality  is  often  seen  in 
the  capacity  to  employ  various  methods  to 


VI  Lectures  on  F reaching  217 

attain  one  end.  Dulness  or  indifference  is 
content  with  one  way.  The  thing  has 
always  been  done  that  way — why  trouble } 
Why  trouble  .^  Because  the  readiness  to  try 
a  new  way,  or  any  way  which  will  cause 
the  work  to  be  better  done,  is  an  evidence 
of  a  spirit  which  is  in  earnest  not  to  get 
work  done,  but  well  done.  Dulness  is 
ready  to  quarrel  with  the  living  earnestness 
which  tries  various  methods.  It  did  so  in 
our  Lord's  day.  The  dull  and  indifferent, 
unable  to  see  in  variety  the  proof  of 
vigorous  love,  complained  that  variety  was 
inconsistency.  They  were  like  the  children 
in  the  market  -  place  ;  they  did  not 
perceive  in  the  different  methods  of  the 
Baptist  and  of  our  Lord  the  evidence  of 
that  unchanging  love  which  seeks  in 
manifold  ways  to  bring  men  to  itself 
The  proof  of  an  unchanging  purpose  lay 
in   change   of  method.      If,  therefore,  you 


21 8  Lectures  on  Preaching  lect. 

keep  steadily  in  view  the  great  aim  of 
your  work  you  will  be  quick  and 
capable  in  varying  your  methods ;  you 
will  not,  I  think,  frame  your  sermons 
after  one  model.  You  will  have  your 
people  in  your  mind.  You  will  consider 
their  needs,  and  you  will  weigh  many 
plans  with  the  view  of  selecting  that 
which  is  most  appropriate  to  their  require- 
ments. You  will  keep  before  your  mind 
the  true  end  of  your  preaching.  You  will 
not  neglect  the  welfare  of  your  people  in 
order  to  please  or  glorify  yourself  by  the 
adoption  of  some  ambitious  method.  Archi- 
tects have  been  known  to  build  stately  and 
noble  churches  in  which  no  one  can  hear  : 
the  comfort  and  welfare  of  the  people  have 
been  sacrificed  to  magnificence  of  effect. 
Others  have  built  comely  houses  in  which 
the  staircases  have  been  forgotten.  It  is 
thus   that  tyranny  of  method  makes  men 


VI  Lectures  on  Preaching  219 

forget  the  real  end  of  their  work.  Those 
who  keep  the  purpose  of  their  work  in 
view  show  more  alacrity  of  mind  in 
adjusting  means  to  the  end.  Love,  with 
quickness  of  mind,  is  alive  to  its  object. 
She  will  change  her  modes  and  vary  her 
plans  because  she  is  constant  to  her  aim. 
So  will  the  true-hearted  minister  of  Christ. 
He  will  become  all  things  to  all  men,  that 
he  may  by  all  means  win  some.  If  we 
would  possess  that  freedom  of  spirit  which 
is  elastic  in  method  because  it  is  immov- 
able in  purpose,  we  must  be  on  our  guard 
against  the  tyranny  of  method. 

3.  There  is  the  spirit  of  clericalism. 
You  remember  Gambetta's  famous  saying 
— "  L'ennemi,  c'est  la  clericalisme."  We 
may  not  agree  with  the  French  statesman, 
but  the  words  may  serve  as  a  text  to  warn 
us  against  a  very  real  hindrance  in  work. 
I  say  in  work,  for  it  is  true  in  all  avocations 


2  20  Lectures  on  Preaching  lect. 

that  one  enemy  of  efficiency  and  vitality  in 
work  is  clericalism.  We  all  recognise  the 
truth  of  this  when  we  speak  scornfully  of 
Red  Tape.  There  is  a  clericalism  of  law 
and  of  medicine,  as  well  as  of  theology. 
We  sometimes  mean  the  same  thing  when  we 
talk  of  professionalism.  We  feel  that  there 
is  weakness,  perhaps  something  worse  than 
weakness,  when  the  man  is  buried  underneath 
his  professionalism.  *'  Now,  doctor,"  said 
a  shrewd-witted  patient,  "don't  be  pro- 
fessional, but  tell  me  the  truth."  We  see 
immediately  what  the  patient  meant.  The 
man  is  often  lost  in  his  profession.  His 
range  of  thought,  his  clearness  of  vision, 
perchance  his  veracity  and  his  manhood, 
may  be  enslaved.  This  clericalism  or  pro- 
fessionalism may  show  itself  in  different 
forms.  It  may  appear  as  dogmatism,  or 
intellectualism,  or  as  mere  officialism. 

{a)   It  may  appear  as  dogmatism.     We 


VI  Lectures  on  Preaching  221 

know  how  much  has  been  said  about 
dogmatism  in  recent  years.  It  is  declared 
that  people  are  impatient  of  dogmatism. 
When  we  ask  what  this  means,  pessimists 
declare  that  it  is  because  the  evil  hearts  of 
men  dislike  all  doctrine,  and  would  fain 
have  a  religion  which  is  robbed  of  all 
distinctive  teaching.  And  then  they  quote 
St.  Paul,  who  tells  of  a  time  when  men  will 
not  endure  sound  doctrine. 

Now,  gentlemen,  I  do  not  believe  that 
this  is  a  fair  or  adequate  account  of  the 
matter.  There  may,  of  course,  be  some  in 
every  place  who  are  impatient  of  order, 
reason,  and  law  ;  but  it  is  not,  I  think, 
true  in  any  wide  sense  that  people  are 
impatient  of  teaching.  On  the  contrary, 
I  meet  constantly  with  the  very  opposite 
view.  I  find  many  saying,  I  wish  that  our 
clergymen  would  really  teach  us.  We  do 
not    so    much  want    vehement    or   earnest 


22  2  Lectures  on  Preaching         lect. 

exhortations  as  clear  and  methodical  teach- 
ing. Yet  though  this  is  true,  we  must  admit 
that  there  is  a  very  general  dislike  of  dog- 
matism. We  need  therefore  to  ask  what 
is  this  dogmatism  of  which  people  are 
impatient.  It  is  not  teaching  itself  which 
is  objected  to  ;  nor  is  it  teaching  which  is 
clear  and  definite,  and  which  sets  forth 
distinct  principles  of  faith  and  conduct. 
It  is  rather  that  form  of  teaching  in  which 
truth  is  treated  as  a  thing  apart  from  life. 
It  is  that  dogmatic  insistence  on  the  accept- 
ance of  a  series  of  theological  propositions, 
but  which  fails  to  bring  them  into  line 
with  the  facts  and  needs  of  human  life  and 
experience.  It  is  the  preaching  of  theo- 
logical theories  instead  of  living  truths. 
Theological  theories  may  enshrine  living 
truths,  but  they  may  be  set  forth  in  such 
a  fashion  that  they  sound  only  as  arbitrary 
propositions.      Truth  to  be  true  to  men 


VI  Lectures  on  Preaching  223 

must  touch  man  and  man's  life.  An 
anatomical  museum  is  no  doubt  a  most 
useful  place  for  studying  the  structure  of 
the  human  frame  ;  but  it  does  not  interest 
everybody.  It  is  a  display  of  dead  truth. 
The  sight  of  a  little  child  building  sand- 
castles  on  the  shore  has  more  of  life  in  it. 
The  bones  of  men  are  not  men.  The 
scientific  parade  of  theology  is  not  religious 
teaching.  "  As  art  for  mere  art's  sake  ends 
in  depraved  taste,  so  mere  theology  ends  in 
depraved  religion  " — so  wrote  Julius  Hare. 
It  is  a  true  saying,  and  one  which  we  do 
well  to  lay  to  heart.  The  resentment  of 
people  is  not  against  religious  teaching, 
but  against  the  arid  dogmatism  which  is 
offered  to  them  as  a  substitute  for  it. 
This  is  the  danger  which  besets  us.  But 
here  again  we  shall  find  the  careful  re- 
membrance of  the  aim  of  preaching  a  pro- 
tection to  us.      We  shall  remember  that 


224  Lectures  on  Preaching  lect. 

our  purpose  is  to  win  men's  souls.  We 
shall  therefore  be  under  the  necessity  of 
considering  our  teaching  in  the  light  of 
human  need.  We  shall  not  be  satisfied 
with  setting  dry  bones  before  our  people. 
We  shall  seek  to  feed  them  with  food 
convenient  for  them.  We  shall  be  earnest 
in  maintaining  principles,  but  we  shall  seek 
to  make  them  principles  of  life.  We  shall 
strive  to  show  that  the  things  of  God  are 
things  of  man,  because  we  believe  that 
whatsoever  things  were  written  aforetime 
were  written  for  our  learning,  and  that  the 
message  of  God  must  have  a  fitness  for 
man. 

(^)  Besides  this  dogmatism,  clericalism 
may  appear  in  the  guise  of  intellectualism. 
Even  the  man  who  honestly  seeks  to 
teach  may  not  escape  this  temptation,  for 
there  is  a  snare  which  waits  on  teaching. 
It  is  the  snare  which  arises  from  interesting 


VI  Lectures  on  Preaching  225 

passages.  Teaching  may  degenerate  into 
clever  or  erudite  expositions  of  these  inter- 
esting passages.  The  expository  teacher 
may  be  caught  in  this  snare.  The  delight 
of  unfolding  unexpected  meanings,  the 
keen  intellectual  pleasure  of  disentangling 
the  true  sense  from  the  false,  and  the 
attraction  afforded  by  historical  or  geo- 
graphical comments  on  the  text,  may  absorb 
the  attention,  and  the  moral  and  spiritual 
purpose  of  preaching  may  be  forgotten. 
But  let  us  keep  in  view  the  real  aim,  and 
all  these  intellectual  methods  will  be  made 
subordinate  to  that  aim. 

(<:)  Lastly,  this  clericalism  may  appear 
in  the  form  of  officialism.  This  is  the  least 
pleasing  perhaps  of  all.  There  is  a  true 
and  valid  meaning  in  the  Apostle's  declara- 
tion, "  I  magnify  mine  office  "  ;  but  there 
is  a  petty  self-important  officialism  which 
is  the  very  opposite  of  St.  Paul's  exaltation 
Q 


226  Lectures  on  Preaching         lect. 

of  his  calling.  No  man  indeed  can  value 
too  highly  an  office  of  so  great  dignity  and 
of  so  great  difficulty  as  that  of  the  minister 
of  Christ ;  but  he  alone  magnifies  his  office 
whose  whole  soul  is  intent  upon  making 
himself  day  by  day  more  fit  for  its  duties. 
He  magnifies  his  office  aright  who  approves 
himself  as  the  minister  of  God  "  by  pureness, 
by  knowledge,  by  long-suffering,  by  kind- 
ness, by  the  Holy  Ghost,  by  love  un- 
feigned, by  the  word  of  truth,  by  the 
power  of  God,  by  the  armour  of  righteous- 
ness on  the  right  hand  and  on  the  left " 
(2  Cor.  vi.  6,  7).  He,  on  the  other  hand, 
brings  his  office  into  contempt  who  pre- 
sumes on  his  official  position  to  claim 
respect  for  his  absurdities,  and  who  delights 
to  throw  into  ludicrous  prominence  his 
little  brief  authority.  The  truth  is  that 
egotism  easily  creeps  under  the  cassock  ; 
and   a  clergyman   may  make   himself  and 


VI  Lectures  on  Preaching  227 

his  position  the  centre  of  his  thoughts. 
He  may  judge  everything  by  its  bearing 
on  his  office  and  authority.  But  if  he 
does  so,  he  will  find  that  his  office  is  dis- 
honoured, and  his  authority  will  be  flung 
to  the  winds.  Happier  is  he  who  keeps  in 
mind  the  end  of  his  ministry,  and  thinks 
of  himself  as  the  servant  of  God,  set  for 
the  help  of  the  world.  He  will  remember 
that  his  work  is  to  win  men  to  righteous- 
ness and  to  God.  All  his  thoughts  will 
revolve  round  this  centre.  All  events 
will  be  measured  by  reference  to  this 
object.  Self  will  be  less  and  less  ;  God 
will  be  more  and  more  ;  and  his  joy  will 
be  in  any  labour,  necessity,  or  distress  which 
will  make  righteousness  and  the  love  of 
God  known  and  obeyed  by  men. 

Once  again,  then,  let  me  urge  you  to  keep 
clearly  in  mind  and  to  have  always  printed 
in  your  memory  the  true  aim  of  preaching. 


228  Lectures  on  Preaching         lect. 

It  is  not  for  the  applause  of  men,  still 
less  is  it  for  self-glory.  It  is  to  win  men 
to  the  love  of  good  and  to  the  love  of 
God.  It  is  to  bring  them  into  allegiance 
to  the  spirit  of  Christ.  It  is  to  rouse  in 
them  enthusiasm  for  righteousness,  love  of 
their  kind,  and  faith  in  the  laws  and  pur- 
poses of  God.  It  is  the  aim  which  was 
Christ's  in  His  life  and  death — it  is  to 
bring  them  to  God. 

II.  You  will  not  think  it  strange  that 
I  say  to  you  in  the  next  place — Realise 
your  authority. 

Keep  clear  before  you  the  aim  of  your 
teaching,  but  realise  also  your  authority. 

I.  Realise  in  the  first  place  that  it  is 
bestowed  on  you  for  a  purpose.  It  is 
that  which  the  Lord  hath  given  you  for 
edification,  and  not  for  destruction.  Not 
for  destruction.  It  is  not  yours  to  cast 
darkness  or  doubt  upon  men's  hearts.     It 


VI  Lectures  on  Preaching  229 

is  not  for  you  to  fling  out  wild  denuncia- 
tions, still  less  to  hurl  out  anathemas. 
Only  the  infallible  may  venture  to  do  this. 
Remember  that  it  often  happens  that  what 
a  clergyman  says  is  invested  in  the  mind 
of  some  simple  listener  with  a  weight 
and  authority  far  higher  than  it  merits. 
"  I  heard  it  in  church "  is  with  some  as 
sufficient  for  faith  as  "  I  read  it  in  print " 
is  for  others.  It  will  not  do  for  us  to 
shake  ojff  the  responsibility  by  saying  that 
such  people  are  foolish.  The  foolish,  the 
ignorant,  and  such  as  are  out  of  the  way 
are  entitled  to  our  consideration.  Towards 
these  we  must  show  compassion.  We  must 
be  jealous  over  ourselves  lest  we  lead  these 
astray.  Our  utterances  must  always  be 
such  that  they  may  prove  helpful  to  others. 
We  must  take  heed  lest  we  cause  a  weak 
brother  to  stumble.  Our  influence,  our 
authority,  and  our  office  are  for  salvation 


230  Lectures  on  Preaching  lect. 

and  not  for  ruin,  for  life  and  not  for  death, 
for  hope  and  not  for  dismay,  for  edification 
and  not  for  destruction. 

2.  ReaUse  your  authority.  By  this  I 
mean,  however,  not  reaUse  to  yourselves 
that  you  have  an  authority,  but  make  it  real 
in  itself,  and  in  its  influence  in  the  world. 
At  the  commencement  of  your  work  this 
authority  is  only  formal  and  potential. 
It  is  only  as  experience,  knowledge,  and 
spiritual  force  are  gained  that  it  becomes 
actual.  You  have,  indeed,  at  the  first, 
authority  to  act  in  certain  ways — to  con- 
duct the  service,  to  administer  the  rites  of 
the  Church,  to  visit,  and  to  preach  the 
Gospel.  But,  as  in  every  other  calling, 
your  capacity  for  work  matures  with  use  and 
honest  endeavours  aided  by  diligent  study 
and  prayer.  When  then  I  say  "  Realise 
your  authority,"  I  mean  use  all  your 
power  and  patience  to  make  it  real,  in  real. 


vr  Lectures  on  Preaching  231 

not  in  mere  formal,  fashion.  Let  it  be  an 
authority  which  is  not  so  much  asserted  as 
conceded.  When  authority  is  formally  and 
ostentatiously  claimed,  it  is  as  often  as  not 
denied.  On  the  other  hand,  when  authority 
has  once  been  won  by  having  made  itself 
real,  it  is  admitted  without  being  claimed. 
As  long  as  your  authority  is  only  outward 
and  formal,  you  gain  little  by  having  it 
conceded  :  you  lose  disastrously  in  imperi- 
ously thrusting  it  forward.  But  when  once 
influence  has  made  itself  felt  within,  when 
the  truth  spoken  has  won  the  inward  re- 
sponse of  the  conscience  and  heart,  then 
you  have  no  need  to  put  forward  claims 
which  have  already  been  made  good  in  the 
souls  of  men.  In  other  words,  let  your 
authority  become  real  in  having  a  real  and 
ethical  basis  in  the  moral  natures  of  your 
hearers.  It  was  the  Apostle  who  said,  We 
preach  not  ourselves  but  Christ  Jesus  the 


232  Lectures  on  Preaching         lect. 

Lord,  who  was  able  also  to  say  that  by 
manifestation  of  the  truth  he  sought  to 
commend  himself  to  every  man's  conscience 
in  the  sight  of  God  (2  Cor.  iv.  5  and  2). 
If  we  thus  make  our  authority  real,  we  shall 
take  one  safe  path  to  make  men  realise  it. 

But  we  shall  not  leave  other  paths 
untrodden.  As  we  desire  to  make  men 
realise  the  true  character  of  our  message, 
we  shall  seek  the  knowledge  of  men,  and 
skill  in  the  fitting  ways  of  approaching 
them. 

3.  Knowledge  of  men  is  indispensable 
for  our  work.  It  is  only  reasonable  to 
say  that  some  knowledge  of  the  nature 
of  those  whom  we  seek  to  win  is  requisite. 
He  is  a  poor  fisherman  who  has  not  studied 
in  some  sort  the  ways  and  habits  of  the 
fish  he  seeks.  He  is  a  poor  parson  who  does 
not  understand  something  of  human  nature. 
Now  this  knowledge  of  human  nature,  as  a 


VI  Lectures  on  Preaching  233 

rule,  comes  only  with  years  and  experience. 
Doubtless,  there  is  a  gift  of  insight  be- 
stowed in  varying  degrees  upon  men  ;  and 
this  may  be,  though  rarely,  an  endowment 
of  the  young.  But  this  is  unusual.  Know- 
ledge of  human  nature,  insight  into  its 
processes  and  motives,  is,  as  a  rule,  the 
heritage  of  men  who  have  reached  ma- 
turity, and  who  have  exercised  their 
powers  of  observation  and  reflection.  But 
whether  this  knowledge  comes  early  as  a 
gift,  or  late  as  an  acquisition,  the  preacher 
who  does  not  possess  it  must  remain  in- 
effective. St.  Chrysostom's  knowledge  of 
human  nature  was  as  evident  as  his  know- 
ledge of  the  Bible.  His  sermons  hold  up 
the  mirror  to  man.  He  knew  well  how 
to  show  vice  its  own  image.  It  would 
not  be  difficult  to  derive  from  his  homilies 
a  portrait  gallery  of  typical  men.  There  is 
no  need  to  insist  on  this  point.     Only  he 


2  34  Lectures  on  Preaching  lect. 

who  knows  men  can  speak  to  men.  The 
need  of  this  knowledge  is  evident.  How 
can  it  be  acquired  "^  There  are  only  two 
answers  to  this  question,  I  think.  Know- 
ledge of  human  nature  can  only  be  gained 
through  the  study  of  books  and  of  men. 

(^a)  By  books.  I  put  this  first,  not  as 
being  the  most  important  or  effective  means 
to  this  end,  but  merely  to  insist  on  the  fact 
that  there  are  books  which  do  give  us 
insight  into  the  working  of  the  human  soul. 
Men  who  have  been  called  upon  to  in- 
fluence their  fellow-men  have  recognised 
this.  St.  Chrysostom  was  a  diligent  student 
of  Aristophanes.  This  example  may  stand 
as  a  type.  It  may  remind  us  that  the 
study  of  the  great  dramatists  is  the  study  of 
human  nature.  The  poet  who  sings  of  the 
flower  and  of  the  bird  may  delight  us. 
His  music  is  sweet  when  we  are  tired  of 
toil,     perhaps    disgusted    with    men.     To 


VI  Lectures  on  Preaching  235 

listen  to  him  is  like  sitting  under  the  grate- 
ful shade  and  listening  to  the  music  of 
the  songster  who  rises  skyward.  But 
as  man  is  greater  than  the  flower  and 
the  bird,  so  the  poet  is  greatest  who  can 
make  man  his  theme.  The  whole  range 
of  the  literature  of  the  great  poets  of  man 
lies  open  to  us.  In  their  pictures  we  may  see 
life  in  miniature  and  recognise  other  men's 
portraits  and  our  own.  Sophocles,  Terence, 
Shakespeare,  Moliere,  Goethe  may  be  our' 
helpers  in  this  study.  History,  too,  will 
aid  us  here,  and  if  we  are  wise  we  shall  not 
forget  the  sacred  literature  of  the  Old 
and  New  Testaments,  wherein  prophet  and 
historian,  philosopher  and  apostle,  and 
chiefly  He  who  spake  as  never  man  spake, 
combine  to  show  us  what  is  in  man. 

(^b)  But  the  study  of  books  tends  to 
theory.  From  the  study  of  books  we  may 
only  make  the  acquaintance  of  "  bookish  " 


236  Lectures  on  Preaching         lect. 

men  ;  we  must  go  to  life  also.  The  power 
of  Velasquez  as  a  portrait -painter  lay  in 
his  sense  of  the  individual  :  "Bien  com- 
prendre  son  homme  est  la  premiere  qualite 
du  portraitiste."  The  preacher  too  must 
understand  man  and  men  ;  and  he  can 
only  adequately  do  this  by  that  best  of 
teachers,  experience.  However  expert  we 
may  be  in  drama  and  history,  we  need  to 
know  something  of  the  living  flesh  and 
blood,  the  perplexed  minds,  the  sorrowing 
hearts  and  troubled  consciences  of  the  men 
of  our  own  generation.  I  repeat,  therefore, 
what  I  have  already  spoken  of  before,  be 
wise  enough  to  know  your  people  per- 
sonally. Visiting  will  often  prove  the 
armoury  of  the  preacher.  It  will  supply 
him  with  many  a  weapon.  I  do  not  mean 
that  the  confidences  of  the  home  and  of  the 
heart  are  to  be  made  the  opportunities  of 
the  pulpit — only  a  vulgar  mind  parades  in 


VI  Lectures  on  Preaching  237 

public  these  personal  sanctities.  It  is  in 
quite  another  fashion  that  visiting  gives  aid 
to  preaching.  Smart  and  shallow  men  may 
be  tempted  to  make  capital  out  of  the 
concrete  instance.  The  true-hearted  and 
honest  student  works  back  to  principles, 
and  slowly  accumulates  from  the  experience 
of  many  individual  cases  that  mature  and 
sympathetic  knowledge  of  man  which  gives 
him  an  insight  and  a  power  of  exposition 
which  is  almost  prophetic.  I  cannot  leave 
this  point  without  reminding  you  of  one 
aspect  of  this  study  of  human  nature  which 
opens  to  all  an  opportunity  of  knowledge. 
I  mean  the  knowledge  of  self  which  comes 
from  honest,  but  not  morbid,  self-examina- 
tion. Know  thyself — the  counsel  is  never 
out  of  season.  Know  yourself,  for  your 
own  sake.  Know  yourself,  for  out  of 
self-knowledge  often  springs  the  knowledge 
of  others.       When    Massillon    was   asked 


238  Lectures  on  Preaching  lect. 

whence  he  had  derived  his  knowledge  of 
human  nature,  he  rephed,  "  By  the  know- 
ledge of  myself."  Human  hearts  have 
kinship  all  the  world  over  ;  and  he  who 
knows  one  human  heart,  even  if  it  be  his 
own,  has  found  a  key  which  will  unlock 
the  hearts  of  thousands. 

To  gain  this  knowledge  of  men  is  to 
be  on  the  high  road  to  the  possession  of 
wisdom  in  approaching  men.  Those  who 
heard  Bourdaloue's  sermons  were  filled 
with  wonder  at  the  strategic  skill  with 
which  he  advanced  upon  the  hearts  of  his 
hearers.  He  threw  out  his  arguments,  he 
hemmed  in  his  adversary,  and  only  delivered 
his  main  attack  after  he  had  made  retreat 
impossible.  There  was  consummate  ability 
in  this.  It  illustrates  the  duty  of  laying 
hold  upon  men.  Our  best  efforts  must  be 
directed  to  this  end.  And  for  this  end 
we     must    approach     men     through     the 


VI  Lectures  on  Preaching  239 

avenues    of    the    conscience    and    of    the 
affections. 

(<:)  Through  the  conscience.  You  must 
do  this,  for  till  you  have  touched  the  moral 
sense  you  have  missed  the  mark.  You  are 
not  a  politician  who  wants  men's  votes,  nor 
a  professional  who  wants  their  applause, 
nor  a  cheap -jack  who  wants  their  money. 
You  seek  the  response  of  the  conscience. 
You  seek  its  homage  to  the  laws  of  the 
kingdom  of  righteousness.  Your  appeal 
must  be  to  the  conscience.  Here  you  have 
a  force  which  does  not  change.  In  the 
shifting  opinions  of  men,  in  the  advance  of 
knowledge,  in  the  changes  of  taste,  there  is 
small  prospect  of  firm  standing- ground. 
But  the  sense  of  right  and  wrong  remains. 
This  power  is  changeless  in  humanity.  We 
may  alter  our  opinions  about  what  is  right 
and  wrong  :  as  the  race  makes  progress 
this   must    necessarily    be    the    case.     The 


240  Lectures  on  Preaching         lect, 

sense  of  wrong  should  deepen  and  widen. 
The  rough-handed  brutahties  of  earlier  ages 
are  intolerable  to  us  to-day.  The  balances 
of  the  conscience  become  more  sensitive  as 
God  educates  men.  But  the  power  to 
weigh  right  and  wrong  is  the  changeless 
right  of  the  conscience.  The  sceptre  which 
the  conscience  wields  is  an  imperious 
sceptre.  Specious  arguments  and  special 
pleadings  are  swept  away.  When  the  ark 
was  opened,  the  pot  of  manna  and  the  rod 
of  Aaron  had  disappeared  ;  the  tables  of 
the  law  written  and  graven  in  stone  re- 
mained. The  emblems  of  miraculous  sus- 
tenance and  official  authority  had  vanished 
in  the  lapse  of  generations ;  but  the  moral 
law  was  there,  unchanged,  and  still  in  force. 
To  the  moral  sense  we  may  appeal.  If  not 
in  form,  yet  the  work  of  the  law  is  written 
in  men's  hearts  ;  conscience  bears  witness, 
and  men's  thoughts  accuse  or  else  excuse 


VI  Lectures  on  F reaching  241 

one  another  (Rom.  ii.  15).  To  the  con- 
science the  apostle  appealed  (2  Cor.  i.  12, 
iv.  2).  The  response  of  the  conscience 
was  sought  by  our  Lord.  We  have  only  to 
turn  to  the  narrative  of  His  conversation 
with  the  woman  of  Samaria  to  see  this  ex- 
emplified. He  first  awakened  her  yearning 
for  a  life  more  restful  than  her  own  ;  He 
then  struck  home  to  her  conscience — "Go, 
call  thy  husband."  She  attempts  to  fence. 
He  presses  home  the  truth — "  He  whom 
thou  now  hast  is  not  thy  husband  "  (John 
iv.  16-18).  In  another  fashion,  in  the 
case  of  the  sick  of  the  palsy,  Christ  touches 
the  conscience.  "  Thy  sins  be  forgiven 
thee "  are  His  first  words.  They  seem 
irrelevant,  but  they  are  in  truth  the 
message  for  which  the  uneasy  conscience  of 
the  sufferer  has  thirsted.  Far  worse  than  the 
physical  weakness  which  sin  has  brought 
upon  him  is  the  haunting  remembrance  of 


242  Lectures  on  Preaching  lect, 

the  sin  itself.     The  conscience  is  touched, 
and  the  heart  is  stirred. 

(<i)  The  heart  is  stirred.  The  message  to 
the  conscience  alone  is  not  enough.  Indeed, 
only  the  tender-hearted  who  wing  their  mes- 
sage with  love  can  provoke  the  true  response 
of  the  conscience.  Many  upright-minded 
people  who  have  a  stern  hatred  of  wrong- 
doing are  powerless  to  move  or  melt  the 
wrong-doer's  heart.  Highly  conscientious 
folk  are  often  powerless  to  raise  the  fallen, 
because  they  come  with  the  words  of  reproach 
and  the  hard  law  of  retribution  in  their  hands. 
They  tear  open  the  wound.  They  hardly 
realise  that  perchance  the  wound  is  painful 
to  the  wounded  one.  They  awaken  anger, 
perhaps  even  just  resentment,  because  in 
their  determination  to  be  outspoken  and 
honest  they  have  taken  a  narrow  and  un- 
fair view  of  the  case.  In  maintaining  the 
standard  of  righteousness  they   have    used 


VI  Lectures  on  Preaching  243 

words  which  have  done  an  injustice  to  the 
sinner.  They  have  made  the  sore  heart 
more  sore.  They  have  alienated  sympathy. 
They  went  armed  with  the  law  ;  they 
brought  no  oil  of  love  to  the  wounded  one. 
Far  otherwise  was  our  Lord's  action.  He 
always  brought  hope  to  the  heart  that  He 
sought  to  win.  He  did  not  avoid  the  pain- 
ful truth.  The  sick  of  the  palsy  had  been 
guilty  of  sin  ;  and  our  Lord  speaks  of  his 
misconduct  as  sin — "  Thy  sins  be  forgiven 
thee,"  But  He  speaks  with  love.  The 
man  has  fallen  ;  the  man  has  suffered  ; 
but  he  is  no  outcast  from  love.  He  is  a 
son,  God's  son,  still — "  Son,  be  of  good 
cheer  ;  thy  sins  be  forgiven  thee." 

Truth  without  tenderness  misses  the 
mark.  Remember  St.  Augustine's  precept, 
"  Magis  monendo  quam  minando."  Let 
love  therefore  mingle  with  your  witness  to 
righteousness.     Let  the  appeal  to  the  con- 


244  Lectures  on  Preaching         lect. 

science  be  spoken  with  the  force  of  sym- 
pathy. We  need  this  power  more  than  we 
know.  The  eye  of  youth,  though  it  can  see 
visions,  cannot  always  discern  the  need  of 
this  power.  It  is  no  mere  flabby  sentiment 
which  weakens  the  force  of  your  appeal ; 
it  is  a  force  which  invigorates  and  intensi- 
fies that  appeal,  for  it  enables  the  preacher 
to  keep  in  mind  his  duty  of  winning  men. 
It  widens  his  horizon.  It  enables  him 
to  discriminate  essential  ethical  righteous- 
ness from  the  mint,  anise,  and  cummin, 
to  which  are  too  often  given  both  a 
ludicrous  importance  and  a  moral  value 
to  which  they  have  no  claim.  We  need 
in  pressing  home  moral  truths  to  possess 
a  clear  discriminating  power.  He  is  no 
preacher  of  righteousness  who  invents  new 
sins,  or  who  treats  the  varieties  of  custom 
or  habit  or  individual  feeling,  which  dis- 
tinguish human  race  and  temperament,  as 


VI  Lectures  on  Preaching  245 

matters  of  vast  ethical  moment.  It  is  no 
sign  of  spiritual  ripeness  to  see  sin  in  things 
indifferent.  Richard  Cecil  spoke  a  great 
truth  when  he  said  that  one  sign  of  the 
matured  and  mellowed  Christian  life  was 
the  possession  of  "  less  of  scrupulosity  and 
more  of  tenderness  of  conscience."  This 
spirit — earnest  for  righteousness,  free  from 
pedantic  scruples,  instinct  with  loving  pur- 
pose—  carries  with  it  a  wondrous  power. 
It  is  much  more  than  morality  tinged  with 
emotion  ;  it  is  righteousness  inspired  by 
love.  Such  was  the  spirit  of  our  Lord. 
He  maintained  and  manifested  sternly  and 
strenuously  righteousness  before  men.  Yet 
with  what  matchless  tenderness  He  spoke 
and  acted.  Nay,  His  very  love  made 
righteousness  more  vivid  and  more  attrac- 
tive to  men.  To  sin,  as  such.  He  was  stern 
and  uncompromising.  To  sinful  ways 
masked  by  hypocrisy  He  gave  no  quarter. 


246  Lectures  on  Preaching         lect. 

To  the  sinning,  He  was  unfailing  in  His 
compassion.  Love  taught  Him  the  sweetest 
artifices  to  win  back  the  erring.  His  words 
touched  old  chords  in  the  heart,  awakened 
forgotten  memories,  and  called  forth  dor- 
mant aspirations ;  and  then  the  weary  and 
heavy-laden  crept  to  His  side,  and  the  poor, 
world-despised,  fallen  one  braved  the  angry 
and  averted  looks  of  men  to  wash  His 
feet  with  tears  (Matth.  xi.  20-30,  and 
Luke  vii.  36-50).  To  such  He  spoke  the 
reassuring  words,  "  Thy  faith  hath  saved 
thee  :  go  in  peace."  We  vainly  try  to 
storm  men's  consciences  by  terror.  Unless 
love  be  in  our  hearts,  we  lose  as  much  as 
we  gain  ;  for  since  He  who  rules  on  the 
throne  of  the  Universe  is  love,  and  since 
Christ  came  to  reveal  that  love  to  us,  we 
may  be  sure  that  love,  and  love  alone,  is 
omnipotent  in  the  spiritual  world.  Love 
will    crown    your    authority.      This    spirit 


VI  Lectures  on  Preaching  247 

carries  its  own  credentials  with  it.  In 
jealousy  for  righteousness  and  in  tenderness 
of  love,  you  will  best  make  men  realise  the 
authority  of  your  utterance. 

III.  There  remains  one  thing  more. 
Have  faith  in  your  message.  We  live  in 
an  age  of  quickly-changing  thoughts,  and 
the  difficulties  of  the  times  carry  with  them 
temptations.  The  old  ways  are  played  out. 
We  must  go  with  the  times.  Timid  con- 
servatism is  always  barren.  We  must  meet 
the  age  with  its  own  weapons.  There  is 
a  sense  in  which  we  may  cordially  agree 
with  this  appeal  to  employ  new  methods. 
If  it  means  that  we  should  be  ready  to 
adapt  our  methods  to  new  needs,  the  appeal 
is  wise  and  harmless  enough  ;  and  of  the 
folly  of  refusing  it  I  have  already  spoken. 
But  sometimes  this  language  means  some- 
thing very  different.  Sometimes  it  conveys, 
not   the  spirit  of  the  vigorous  earnestness 


248  Lectures  on  Preaching  lect. 

which  strives  by  all  means  to  win  men,  but 
the  spirit  of  despair  and  flat  unbelief  in 
the  power  of  God's  love  and  God's  spirit 
among  men.  Then  it  embodies,  not  the 
wish  to  win  men  to  God,  but  the  thirst  for 
men's  applause  or  for  men's  adhesion  to  a 
particular  party.  Temptations  are  ready  at 
hand.  Under  the  plausible  plea  of  new 
methods,  all  sorts  of  doubtful  expedients 
are  tried.  The  man,  having  no  message 
from  God  to  give,  essays  desperate,  perhaps 
undignified,  methods  of  filling  his  church. 
He  will  engage  distinguished  soloists.  He 
will  approximate  his  methods  as  nearly  as 
may  be  to  those  of  a  music-hall.  The  idea 
of  worship  recedes  into  the  background. 
The  Church  is  no  longer  the  home  of 
souls,  the  birthplace  of  new  spiritual 
resolves,  the  quiet  place  where  God  meets 
with  men  and  the  voice  of  His  message  is 
heard.     It  is  a  successful  enterprise.     It  is 


VI  Lectures  on  Preaching  249 

full.  It  is  popular.  But  it  is  no  longer 
the  house  of  prayer,  or  the  gate  of  heaven 
to  tired  and  sin-wearied  souls. 

The  man  who  retains  faith  in  his  message 
will  resort  to  no  such  vulgar  expedients. 
He  has  a  message  to  give.  It  is  his  to 
deliver  it.  Whether  men  hear  or  whether 
they  forbear,  he  must  deliver  his  soul. 
Success  in  the  shape  of  crowded  audiences 
is  not  his  affair.  Success  in  the  sense  of 
doing  his  best  to  make  his  message  clear, 
forcible,  and  loving,  and  of  bringing  men 
to  realise  the  near,  righteous,  and  loving 
God,  is  his  desire.  Believing  that  he  has  a 
message,  and  believing  in  the  message  which 
he  has,  his  own  supreme  aim  is  that,  where 
he  can  and  as  he  can,  the  message  should 
be  spoken.  He  feels  that  popularity-seek- 
ing expedients  are  needless.  Christianity 
is  still  fitted  to  do  its  work.  "The  ever- 
lasting God,  the  Lord,  the  Creator  of  the 


250  Lectures  on  Preaching  lect. 

ends  of  the  earth,  fainteth  not,  neither  is 
weary"  (Isaiah  xl.  28).  His  word  and 
message  shall  prosper  in  the  thing  whereto 
He  sends  it. 

Have  faith  in  your  message.  It  is  still 
a  strong,  heart -reaching,  and  unfailing 
message.  It  is  the  message  of  the  love 
which  encircles  human  life,  which  redeems 
human  frailty,  which  dwells  in  human 
hearts.  If  it  seem  to  us  weaker  and  less 
apt  to  achieve  victory  than  in  the  days  of 
yore,  it  is  not  because  God  has  changed, 
or  the  force  of  His  love,  or  the  truth  of 
His  word  ;  it  is  because  we  grasp  His 
hand  with  less  firmness  and  less  courage 
than  they  of  old  did.  But  if  His 
strength  and  love  remain  the  same,  the 
wonderful  works  which  were  done  of  old 
may  be  wrought  anew  in  our  generation. 
If  this  be  thought  by  some  to  be  too  good 
to  be  true,  remember  Ruskin's  caution  that 


VI  Lectures  on  Preaching  251 

the  highest  unfaith  hes  in  such  a  sentiment, 
for  it  means  that  it  is  possible  for  us  to 
conceive  a  good  beyond  God's  power  to 
make  true,  and  that  God  has  given  us  laws 
and  principles  which  we  can  appreciate,  but 
which  will  not  work.  No,  let  us  dismiss 
this  despondency  of  unfaith.  In  our  day 
and  generation  one  word  of  assurance  is 
opening  to  us  more  clearly  than  to  the  men 
of  the  past.  We  no  longer  look  to  the 
marvellous  for  the  attestation  of  the  moral, 
for  we  may  find  in  the  moral  itself  fresh 
wonders  and  an  unfailing  witness  of  things 
spiritual.  In  man's  nature  we  may  find  an 
evidence  higher  than  the  miraculous  could 
afford.  In  the  things  within  us,  rather 
than  in  the  things  above  us,  we  may  find 
the  true  soul  of  life. 

"  You'll  find  the  soul  you  have  missed 
Within  yourself." 

"  The  man  who  wrote  that  book  made 


252  Lectures  on  Preaching         lect. 

me,"  was  the  language  of  the  native  who 
was  aiding  Bishop  Boone  in  his  translation 
of  the  Bible.  "  I  believe  this  to  be 
God's  book  because  it  is  man's  book,"  has 
been  the  thought  if  not  the  language  of 
thousands.  For  in  spite  of  all  the  vexed 
questions  of  miracles  and  criticism,  the 
spiritual  and  moral  power  of  the  sacred 
message  finds  response  in  the  hearts  to 
which  it  is  sent.  The  spirit  of  Christ  is 
recognised  everywhere  as  the  true  spirit 
which,  living  in  human  hearts,  would  bring 
about  the  true  revolution  and  the  golden 
age.  He  has  become  the  conscience  of 
humanity.  He  is  His  own  witness.  He 
is  the  door,  and  He  also  enters  by  it  ;  and 
as  He  enters.  He  is  recognised  as  the 
Shepherd  of  mankind. 

If  you  will  but  preach  simple  Christ  to 
simple  men,  you  will  have  no  reason  to 
doubt    the    power    of    God    in    the    nine-- 


VI  Lectures  on  Preaching  253 

teenth  century.  This  means  much.  It 
means  certain  and  solemn  verities  which  are 
beheved  among  us.  But  it  means  more. 
It  means  a  message  for  society.  It  means 
a  message  for  the  Church.  It  means  a 
message  to  men.  In  the  world  it  means 
the  regeneration  of  the  world.  In  the  soul 
it  means  the  inspiration  of  the  soul.  In 
the  hereafter  it  means  satisfaction.  "When 
I  wake  up  after  Thy  likeness,  I  shall  be 
satisfied  with  it."  Study  this  message  till 
you  know  it,  till  you  love  it,  till  you 
assimilate  it. 

Never  leave  off  this  study.  Seek  to  in- 
crease in  stature  and  strength.  Doubt  will 
grow  less  and  less,  though  the  reasons  of 
doubt  may  grow  more  and  more.  Your 
grasp  upon  the  inward  and  spiritual  will 
be  too  strong.  The  world  and  life  you 
will  feel  to  be,  as  Browning  said,  "  too 
big    to    pass    for    a   dream."      It    will    be 


254  Lectures  on  Preaching      lect.  vi 

"  no  blot  for  you,  nor  blank."  It  will 
mean  "intensely  and  mean  good."  Your 
message  will  be  to  you  more  simple  and 
more  real  from  day  to  day,  your  faith  in 
it  more  strong  ;  and  that,  because  your  faith 
and  hope  will  be  in  God,  and  because  you 
will  have  clearer  vision  of  Him  who  is  alive 
for  evermore,  and  who  is  with  you  always, 
even  unto  the  end  of  the  world. 


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